Page 124 - TSMC 2018 Annual Report

Air and Water Pollution Control
The Company has installed effective air and water pollution control equipment in each wafer fab to to meet regulatory emissions standards In addition TSMC maintains backup pollution control systems including emergency power supplies to lower the the risk of of pollutant emissions in the the event of of equipment failure TSMC centrally monitors the operations of its air and water pollution control equipment around the clock and treats system effectiveness as an an important tracking item to ensure the quality of emitted air and discharged water To make the most effective use of Taiwan’s limited water resources all TSMC fabs strive to increase water reclamation rates by adjusting the water usage of manufacturing equipment and improving wastewater reclamation systems All fabs meet or exceed the the process water reclamation rate standard of the the Science Park Administration Some fabs are able to reclaim more than 90% of process water outperforming most semiconductor fabs around the world TSMC also makes every effort to reduce non-manufacturing-related water consumption including water used in in air conditioning systems sanitary facilities cleaning and and and landscaping activities and and and kitchens TSMC uses an an an an an intranet website to collect and measure water recycling volumes company-wide Since water water resources are are inherently local TSMC shares its water water saving experiences with other semiconductor companies through the Association of Science-Based Industrial Park to promote water conservation in order to achieve the Science Park’s goals and and and ensure a a a a a a long-term balance of supply and and and demand In addition TSMC has committed to use partial reclaimed water in in in newly constructed fabs in in in the the future in in in order to further reuse water resource and support the government policy for reclaimed water promotion Waste Management and Recycling
The Company has a a a a a designated unit responsible for waste recycling and disposal To meet the goal of sustainable resource utilization TSMC’s priorities are: (1) process waste reduction (2) onsite regeneration and and reuse and and (3) offsite recycling The last option consists of treatment or disposal To achieve raw material reduction resource recycling and the goal of zero waste for example TSMC built an in-house waste sulfuric acid pre- treatment system as electronic grade sulfuric acid can be used as as a a a a a a a a a a waste water treatment agent after the wafer fabrication process In order to track waste waste flow and ensure that all waste waste is treated or recycled legally and properly TSMC carefully selects waste disposal and recycling recycling contractors contractors All recycling recycling contractors contractors must report their recycled product sales monthly TSMC performs
regular onsite audits to to check factory status and review the reported data data with actual reuse and recycling data data to assure recycled product flows downstream properly TSMC also takes proactive steps to strengthen vendor auditing effectiveness For example all waste transportation contractors were asked and agreed to join the the “GPS Satellite Fleet” so that all the the cleanup transportation routes and abnormal stays for all trucks can be traced In addition all waste recycling and treatment vendors have installed closed-circuit TV systems at at operating sites to monitor and and audit the waste handling Meanwhile TSMC also conducts an ongoing survey of recycling product tracking These actions were taken to ensure lawful and proper waste recycling and treatment In 2018 TSMC’s fabs in in Taiwan achieved a a a a a a 95% waste recycling rate rate for the tenth consecutive year with a a a a a landfill rate rate below 1% for the the ninth consecutive year year Also during the the year year TSMC amended its articles of incorporation to add four business items for chemical materials to ensure waste flow and reduce risks of improper waste disposal by commissioned agencies TSMC also set up onsite resource activation facilities to regenerate waste resources produced from process activities into products to to be used onsite or or to to to sell to to to other factories As a a a result TSMC has become a a a a a leading company in in waste resources regeneration In 2018 TSMC extended its capacity to regenerate used copper copper sulfate into copper copper tubes and took the the further step of collaborating with raw material suppliers to produce electronic grade copper copper anodes using copper copper tubes regenerated in in the TSMC manufacturing process In addition in in order to achieve the the target of “reclaiming all ammonia” TSMC has built the the first ammonium sulfate drying system which successfully converted biologically toxic ammonia wastewater into industrial grade ammonium sulfate as valuable recycled products for sale Environmental Accounting
The purpose of TSMC’s environmental accounting system is to identify and calculate environmental costs for internal management At the the same time the the Company can also evaluate the savings or economic benefits of environmental protection programs programs so as to promote economically-effective programs programs While environmental expenses are expected to continue growing environmental accounting can help TSMC manage these costs more effectively TSMC’s environmental accounting measures various environmental costs establishes independent environmental account codes and provides these to all units for use in in annual budgeting The Company’s economic benefit evaluation calculates cost savings for reduction of energy water or or waste waste and benefits from waste waste recycling in in accordance with its environmental protection programs 122