Management of Chemical Substances, Waste Management

In the semiconductor manufacturing process, numerous chemical substances (chemicals and gases) are used during a range of processes such as wafer cleaning, patterning, and film deposition, as well as in wastewater treatment. Whenever such chemical substances are introduced, a preliminary review of each chemical is carried out to evaluate it in environmental and safety terms throughout its use and disposal, and a decision is made on whether or not it can be introduced.

Items for preliminary review
- Related legislation, restricted chemical substances
- Hazard ranking
- Treatment method at disposal
- Place of use
- Handling method (wearing protective equipment etc.)
- Measures for emergencies, fires, and spillages

Used chemicals generated during the semiconductor manufacturing process are divided into those reused in-house, those that are valuable resources reused or recycled by other companies, and those that are disposed of outside the Elpida Memory Group. As production volume increased in FY2006, the amount of waste generated rose by 30% compared with FY2005. It is absolutely vital to ensure stable applications for recycled materials.
Waste generated other than during the manufacturing process is divided into categories such as waste plastic, scrap glass, scrap metal, and raw garbage, and Elpida is working to recycle these too.

* Until FY2005 the figures are for Hiroshima Elpida Memory only. From FY2006 they are the total for Elpida Memory, Hiroshima Elpida Memory, and Akita Elpida Memory.