Environmentally Friendly Management

We aim for pollution-free production. UMC not only complies with, but also strives to exceed international standards and all applicable environmental and safety regulations. We want to be an environmentally friendly enterprise characterized by continual improvement. UMC actively facilitates source reduction to reduce waste and costs to create a win-win situation.

UMC has installed various effective pollution control equipment for different emissions including wastewater, refuse, toxic chemicals, noise, soil and groundwater pollution control equipment, and a 24-hour central monitoring system. It continues to conduct annual pollutant tests and builds a dedicated pollution prevention team pursuant to applicable regulations. The team is in charge of pollution management and monitoring to ensure the proper functioning and performance compliance of all pollution control equipment.

We also expand the Environmental Management Policy scope of application to our subsidiaries, joint venture partners, merged companies, outsourcing vendors, suppliers, customers and other key business partners via external promotion to jointly practice corporate social responsibility and promote the balanced and sustainable development of the economy, society and the environment.

UMC is committed to promoting environmental sustainability, and striving for a future where business performance and the ecological environment can thrive together. The ESG Steering Committee, comprising members of the executive management, is responsible for the supervision and management of the Company’s environmental protection programs, and regularly reports to the Board of Directors, which is the top decision-making body on major environmental policies. Reporting to the ESG Steering Committee, the Corporate Sustainability Committee is responsible for executing initiatives for energy and water conservation, carbon emissions reduction, waste reduction, and other environmental protection goals.

UMC’s Commitments:

1. Fully comply with or go beyond requirements of environmental laws and regulations, and international conventions, striving for zero pollution and sustainable development.

2. Integrate environmental management into the Company’s operational and management systems, and build an environmentally conscious company culture.

3. Actively set aggressive environmental management goals, regularly track and continuously improve environmental performance, and reduce environmental impact.

4. Introduce and develop environmentally friendly technologies that can be applied to R&D, procurement, production operations, business facilities, distribution and logistics, products, and/or services to minimize environmental impact at each life cycle stage in order to achieve green design, green production, and green operations goals.
5. Stay informed of environmental trends around the world, assess the associated opportunities and risks, engage in proper waste management, effectively utilize energy/resources, and promote circular economy.
6. Conduct regular training on risk assessment and risk management to ensure employees understand the environmental impact of their work activities, enhance environmental protection awareness, and encourage responsible action.
7. Enhance awareness of the Company’s environmental policy and environmental impact among both internal and external stakeholders (including the Company and its subsidiaries, value chain partners, civil society) through due diligence, active communication and engagement, and transparent information disclosure.

8. Fulfill corporate social responsibility and cooperate with the government, the public and global business partners in ecological improvement and rehabilitation.

UMC classifies air pollution into four categories: acid exhaust, alkaline exhaust, volatile organic compounds exhaust and normal exhaust. Treatment of acid exhaust and alkaline exhaust includes two stages. The first stage uses local scrubbers behind the process tools in order to treat toxic, flammable and PFC gases. For the second stage, gas is sent through central treatment tools for end-point waste gas treatment. Volatile organic compound exhaust is treated by zeolite-rotary-wheel absorbing equipment at the end-point treatment stage. All air pollution treatment and standby equipment have backup power in case of emergency.

UMC's water pollution prevention includes source reduction, cleaner production and end-of-pipe control technology to reduce wastewater emissions. All fabs have set up wastewater treatment equipment that conforms to emission standards. In order to conduct real-time monitoring, we set up continuous automatic water quality and quantity monitoring systems and enlist a qualified testing company to perform wastewater testing biannually. Test results always meet emission standards.

UMC aggressively promotes cleaner production and adopts state-of–the-art technology to facilitate sustainable operation and development. UMC first selects its target from raw materials that produce major waste by referring to international trends and government-controlled chemicals. Related departments will then conduct small-scale experiments to evaluate technology feasibility while reducing this target in conformance with the company’s cost-down policy and internal benchmark method. If the methods prove feasible, the reduction techniques will be applied in each fab.

Besides facilitating source reduction, our priority waste treatment strategy is recycling, followed by use as auxiliary fuel. Finally, the remaining waste is incinerated or sent to a landfill.

Internal Recycling Case:

• UMC promotes waste recycling to its subsidiaries. In 2022, UMC and its subsidiaries, Hejian Technology and Wavetek, removed hydrogen peroxide from waste dilute sulfuric acid in the fab, which is then used for ammonia nitrogen wastewater treatment or as a chemical for air pollution control equipment. Together, waste sulfuric acid was reduced by 9,507 tonnes, and the purchase of industrial grade sulfuric acid was reduced by 9.976 tonnes, resulting in total economic benefit of NT$65.93 million for the Company. In 2022, UMC launched a waste photomask recycling project. By removing patterns from used photomasks with cleaning equipment, they are converted into quartz substrates that can be resold. This project has reduced waste photomask generation by 2.3 tonnes, and the economic benefit from selling the recycled products reached about NT$4.69 million. In the same year, UMC also launched a circular economy project for converting waste copper sulfate liquid through electrolysis into copper rods with resale value. This has reduced the copper sulfate generation by 61.6 tonnes, and has generated about NT$598,000 in revenue for the Company.

All of UMC’s waste is outsourced for treatment by contractors. In addition to selecting a qualified contractor and best treatment methods, UMC also established an annual audit plan for its waste contractors and conducts regular audits in the treatment plant.

Since waste types tend to diversify, UMC actively works with manufacturers to develop diverse reuse of technology and channels. We are committed to reducing waste and have an ultimate goal of zero waste.

On March 17, 2022, UMC announced that it will invest NT$1.8 billion to establish the Circular Economy & Recycling Innovation Center at its Fab 12A. The center will not only be the first R&D center for waste recycling in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, it will also serve as an important benchmark for circular economy and sustainable operations for Taiwan’s industries. It is expected to reduce 15,000 tonnes of semiconductor manufacturing waste annually after its official launch in 2025. This investment demonstrates UMC's determination to move towards a circular economy and a zero waste future.

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