Water Management
Climate change has brought significant changes in precipitation around the world in recent years. The issue of water scarcity is drawing international attention. Yet, the processes of the semiconductor industry are highly water demanding. The source of water for Nuvoton Technology is municipal water supplied by water utilities. Also, small amount of rainwater and condensed water from air-conditioning are reclaimed as secondary water. The two main strategies for water conservation are source reduction first and recycling that after to reduce the consumption of water resources.
The main production and operation base of Nuvoton Technology sits the Hsinchu Science Park. The source of water is the Baoshan Reservoir in Hsinchu. After the survey with the “Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas” of the World Resources Institute, both the total water withdrawal from and the percentage of water consumption from areas with high or extremely high level of water stress are zero. There is no groundwater or seawater used. The potential impact on local water use is assessed to be low. Also, the industrial wastewater and domestic sewage generated by the enterprises on the park are all collected via sewers and converted to the sewage treatment plant of the park. After treatment, the water with the quality better than the national effluent standards is discharged to the Keya Creek via the independent, dedicated pipelines, rendering no impact on the ecological environment or the water quality. The total water withdrawal of Nuvoton Technology in 2022 was 409.722 million liters with a total water discharge of 312.09 million liters. All reports were made in accordance with the regulations, and there was no concern of wastewater leakage with impact on the surrounding environment.
The total consumption of municipal water (reclaimed water included) by Nuvoton Technology in 2022 was approximately 768.042 million liters with a water use per unit product of approximately 40.1 liters/layer-wafer mask or 4.01 liters/cm2-wafer. The amount of water reclaimed throughout the plant was 518.25 million liters with a total reclamation rate across the plant at 67.5%.
In compliance with the addition of -NMP concentration standard for sewer connection of the Hsinchu Science Park Bureau (HSPB) in 2021, our plant actively assesses and evaluates the appropriate methods. At present, we are employing the method of raw materials substitution with a 3-year reduction plan for NMP substitution. We have completed the verification of the new raw material with the products in 2022. It is scheduled to be adopted for substitution and use in 2023. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of this method will be verified through constant water quality sampling.
In compliance with the addition of -NMP concentration standard for sewer connection of the Hsinchu Science Park Bureau (HSPB) in 2021, our plant actively assesses and evaluates the appropriate methods. At present, we are employing the method of raw materials substitution with a 3-year reduction plan for NMP substitution. We have completed the verification of the new raw material with the products in 2022. It is scheduled to be adopted for substitution and use in 2023. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of this method will be verified through constant water quality sampling.
