TSMC officially opens waste recycling plant in Taichung

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) held a ceremony to mark the official opening of its Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center on Wednesday.

"Operating at full capacity, the Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center will reduce TSMC's outsourced waste processing by 130,000 metric tons per year, accounting for more than 85% of the total waste from TSMC facilities in Central Taiwan Science Park," the Taiwanese microchip maker said in a statement.

This equates to around NT$1.5 billion (US$46.3 million) in environmental cost savings per year and includes a reduced carbon footprint of 40,000 metric tons, the company claimed.

The launch ceremony held at the center in the central Taiwanese city's Daya District was attended by government and private enterprise representatives, including "green technology collaborators" Chang Chun Petrochemical, Transcene, and Li Ying Environmental Technology, TSMC said.

The facility, which has been operating on a trial basis since last year, has four main functions: fluoride recycling, silica recycling, solvent thermal recovery and isopropanol recovery.

The Hsinchu-based company also said that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan's Ministry of Environment (MOENV) to jointly develop membrane-based carbon capture technology to further enhance sustainable microchip manufacturing capabilities.

"TSMC has achieved exciting results in the circular economy," said Senior Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛), referring to the reuse of products and materials in the economy in a more sustainable way.

"Last year, the waste recycling rate at [TSMC's] factories in Taiwan reached over 97 percent," Chyn said.

In a sustainability report released in 2023, Taiwan's largest company by market capitalization set itself a goal of a 100 percent waste recycling by 2030.