Located in a setting of rich natural beauty in Yoshikawa Kogyo Danchi in the city of Higashi Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Plant conducts its manufacturing activities in an environmentally friendly manner while placing a top priority on coexisting harmoniously with the local community.
The facility, which has already moved ahead of its industry by completing a shift to a 300 mm wafer line offering exceptional environmental efficiency, focuses on manufacturing high-valueadded, premier DRAM products.
Background of efforts to reduce environmental impact
The Hiroshima Plant continues to conduct a sophisticated program of environmental activities while maintaining an awareness at all times of the need to perform as one of the world's leading ecofactories. In FY2004, the facility received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award for Excellence in Factory Energy Control 2004, and in FY2009, it received the Minister of the Environment Global Warming Prevention Activity Award These two awards, each most prestigious of its kind in the areas of energy conservation and global warming prevention, attest to the Plant's remarkable track record of success.
During FY2010, the Hiroshima Plant continued to work to improve production efficiency and energy efficiency, and to reduce emissions of PFCs and other greenhouse gases.
Additionally, the facility is working actively to recover resources, and it has achieved the goal of zero-emissions operation every year since August 2000. Currently, more than 99.9% of resources are utilized effectively in other industrial fields.
The Hiroshima Plant has also led the way in mass-production of state-of-the-art eco-products, thereby fulfilling its role as an Elpida Memory Group research facility that is dedicated to the pursuit of advanced technology. During FY2010, the plant moved decisively to transition to a 40 nm process and to shift production to mobile DRAM designed for lower power consumption.
As a result of these efforts, the environmental factor, a proprietary Elpida comprehensive indicator of the degree of environmental improvement achieved, improved to 6.28 times the FY2006 level and 1.66 times the FY2009 level.
FY2010 saw a slight worsening of metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption across all units due to increases in production processes, for example as a result of the conversion to a 40 nm process and mobile DRAM production. Nonetheless, overall we were able to achieve steady improvement
Definition of environmental factor
The environment factor is derived by dividing environmental efficiency for the target fiscal year by environmental efficiency for the baseline year. Environmental efficiency is defined as the result of dividing the total number of shipped bits *1 (bits) by the associated environmental impact *2 (kg-CO2).
*1 No. of shipped wafers x no. of bits per wafer.
*2 CO2 equivalent of energy, chemical, gas, and PFC emissions. Chemicals and gases represent manufacturing-stage emissions.
Preventing global warming
Japan's largest cogeneration system (CGS)
Cogeneration systems generate electricity at a high level of energy effi ciency by using waste heat from the generation process for heating, cooling, and other purposes. By collecting waste heat in the form of hot and warm water in addition to steam, Elpida's gas engine-driven CGS, which began operating in December 2005, delivers an increase in energy effi ciency of about 40% compared to conventional gas turbine systems.
The system, whose output of 112,550 kW as of the end of FY2010 made it one of the largest CGSs in Japan in terms of capacity*3, allowed the Hiroshima Plant to reduce its energy-derived CO2 emissions by 27% (170 kt-CO2/year equivalent) compared to the emissions that would have been created without the system.
*3 As of 2009, according to data published by the Center for Promotion of Natural Gas.
Reducing emissions of PFC gases
Semiconductor manufacturing plants use fl uorocarbon gases (PFCs) such as NF3 and CF4 in the manufacturing process. These greenhouse gases have a global warming potential that is from 6,000 to 22,000 times greater than that of CO2. The Hiroshima Plant has been actively using combustion-type cracking systems since it was built. In FY2009, the plant installed a large catalytic thermal cracking system using a grant from NEDO. As a result of operating these abatement systems throughout the year, the facility was able to reduce total emissions by 70%, or the equivalent of 438 kt-CO2, allowing it to dramatically exceed its FY2010 emissions target of 200 kt-CO2 with emissions of 184 kt-CO2.
*4 The decomposition rate for the abatement system has been calculated using observed values.
PFC (perfl uorocarbon): A category of gases used as an alternative to chlorofl uorocarbons (CFCs) in the etching and cleaning stages of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Typical gases are CF4, C2F6, C3F8, and C4F8. Other perfl uoro compounds such as CHF3, SF6, and NF3 are sometimes included as PFCs.
Topics Reducing CO2 emissions by changing electricity suppliers
In addition to generating its own power with a CGS, the Hiroshima Plant uses commercial power purchased from outside sources to cover fl uctuations in power demand. In the past, this electricity was supplied by a major power company whose operations were characterized by a large thermal power component and high CO2 emissions.
Several years ago, the plant took a new look at its power supplier options in light of this fact, beginning a process that led it to switch to ENNET Corporation, which uses primarily natural gas-powered generators, in FY2010. The change has enabled it to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 30%, equivalent to 23 kt-CO2 per year, further lowering its energy-derived CO2 emissions by approximately 4%.
Interactions with the local community and social contribution activities
The Hiroshima Plant considers communicating with residents to be an important priority, and it works actively to foster interactions with the community, for example by supporting education.
Holding environmental communication meetings with residents of the surrounding area
In FY2009, the Hiroshima Plant began holding environmental communication meetings in the Taguchi district (consisting of the Bushi and Hitotsubashi districts) to the east of the plant, augmenting a program that it has been pursuing with residents of Yoshikawa district, which borders the plant to the north, since FY2007. Fourteen residents participated in FY2010, the program's fi fth year, bringing to 127 the total number of people who have seen Elpida's environmental initiatives for themselves. More than 90% of this year's participants indicated a favorable assessment of the Plant's initiatives on a survey.
In addition to responding to all participants' questions, opinions, and requests at each environmental communication meeting, Elpida provides information to residents of the surrounding area through Elpida Communications (a circular containing various notices and other information).
Participating in local events
The Hiroshima Plant also participates actively in local events.
During FY2010, the plant supported a summer festival in the Yoshikawa district in July, where it had a booth. In August, the facility invited all local households, which number about 400, to participate in its Keyaki Festival, and many attended.
Contributing to the community through compost
As part of its zero-emissions program to eliminate waste, the Hiroshima Plant collects about 2,100 kg of garbage each month from the cafeteria, which it processes into compost by fermenting and drying it. In addition to being used to fertilize the kenaf plants being grown at the site, the compost is given to area farmers, who use it as organic fertilizer to treat vegetable fi elds. At one farm in the Taguchi district, this compost is being used to cultivate asparagus and other vegetables on a large scale.
Kenaf cultivation
Ten years ago, the Hiroshima Plant began cultivating kenaf, an annual that absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide and provides raw material for making paper, on its site as part of efforts to raise awareness about the environment. The program goes beyond the plant, serving as one of the company's social contribution activities and even involving nearby elementary schools.
Cultivating kenaf
The Hiroshima Plant began cultivating kenaf in 2000 with the goal of canceling out the small amount of carbon dioxide emissions generated by burning garbage that would otherwise prevent the Plant from achieving zero-emissions status for its waste stream while giving something back to the local community in the form of raw material for making paper. During FY2010, about 5,000 plants were cultivated and used to manufacture 22,500 sheets of A4 paper at paper plants in Kochi Prefecture and nearby social welfare facilities. The paper is used for a variety of purposes in the community.
Supporting learning through kenaf cultivation
The Hiroshima Plant supports learning at nearby elementary schools each year in order to help students learn about the environment through the process of cultivating kenaf and making paper from its fi ber.
During FY2010, employee volunteers grew kenaf in the schoolyards of nearby elementary schools with students, who tended to the plants and observed their growth.
Teaching lower-elementary students to make kenaf paper has become an annual tradition. Each child makes postcard-size kenaf paper with pressed fl owers or maple leaves using a wood frame.
The plant included pictures of the children working on the project in Elpida Communications, which is printed on kenaf paper, and sent them around to nearby houses.
Supporting elementary education
Supporting semiconductor education
In November 2010, fi fth-graders at Yoshikawa Elementary School participated in a 10-part program about semiconductors as part of their social studies class.
The program focused on the Hiroshima Plant and used text materials prepared with the help of employees.
Plant employees also participated in the fi rst class of the 10-part series, where they discussed Elpida's products. Following the program, 10 fi fth-graders came to the plant for a tour.
Environmental and community service activity highlights
| 2010 April | Donating pull-tabs from empty cans (Nearby elementary schools) |
| May | Supporting elementary education: "Recycling garbage (plant tour)" Raising employee awareness (at Elpida Memory and partner companies): "Kenaf seeding" Supporting elementary education: "Biological survey of the Furukougawa River" Elpida Memory receives the Outstanding Hazardous Materials Handler Award from the Higashi Hiroshima Hazardous Materials Safety Association |
| June | Supporting elementary education: "Kenaf seeding" (at two schools) Participating in the "Town Beautifi cation Campaign" held by Higashi Hiroshima |
| July | Participating in the Yoshikawa Summer Festival |
| August | Donating kenaf paper (to nearby elementary schools and community centers) |
| October | Supporting elementary education: "Learning about transport robots (plant tour)" |
| November | Manning a booth at the Yoshikawa Culture Festival Supporting elementary education: "Kenaf harvesting" Supporting elementary education: "Learning about semiconductors" (with instruction by employees) Raising employee awareness (at Elpida Memory and partner companies) and supporting elementary education: "Kenaf harvesting" Holding environmental communication meetings in nearby communities |
| December | Supporting elementary education: "Kenaf harvesting" |
| 2011 January | Cooperating with the 15th Charity Calendar Exhibition (by donating calendars and notebooks) Supporting elementary education: "Experience making kenaf paper" (at two schools) |
| February | Supporting middle school education: "Guest teacher" program |
| March | Supporting elementary education: "Graduation commemorative lecture" |
| Annual events | Issuing a circular in nearby communities: "Elpida Communications" (published in even-numbered months) Participating in Yoshikawa district cleanup activities: "Bottle and Can Pick-up Day" (July, October, and February) Environmental beautifi cation activities in areas near plants (10 times each year) Environment, safety and health patrols (monthly; conducted by top management in July and January) Law review meeting (monthly) |