Samsung Electronics Recycles 68,000 Tons of Water Resources... 10% Increase YoY

Semiconductor Factory Achieves Daily Water Savings of 4,461 Tons

Samsung Electronics Water Resource Flowchart

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics announced that it recycled a total of 68,555 tons of water last year. This represents a 10% increase in the recycling rate compared to the previous year, which they attributed to maximizing activities such as optimizing business site operations, replacing outdated facilities, and improving operational standards.

According to Samsung Electronics' Sustainability Management Report on the 14th, last year the semiconductor business sites exceeded their water-saving targets, achieving a total daily water savings of 4,461 tons. This was accomplished through process control value changes, switching wastewater treatment methods, and operational optimization at semiconductor plants, which consume large amounts of water.

In recent years, the Pyeongtaek site, which installed large-scale new water facilities, established mid- to long-term water-saving goals by improving facility operation efficiency and applying existing reduction measures.

Samsung Electronics minimizes the water used in manufacturing processes and purifies used water for maximum reuse by classifying water resources at each business site into categories such as wastewater, sewage, process water, and ultrapure water for management. Additionally, each corporation inputs the monthly reuse amounts by water resource category into the global green management system for monitoring.

Furthermore, the company installs groundwater pollution prevention facilities at business sites to prevent contamination, and safely treats discharged effluent using both internal and external treatment facilities. In particular, when discharging directly into rivers using internal treatment facilities, they apply internal standards that are stricter than legal requirements.

Samsung Electronics uses management techniques from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to verify whether its business sites are located in water-stressed or water-scarce regions. Through management methods from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), they identify watershed-level water stress and decadal risk.

Samsung Electronics stated, "We utilize the 'CDP Water' evaluation methodology to segment water resource risks at business sites located in water-stressed countries and establish and implement response strategies for each risk."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.