On July 1st, Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company and Storage Products Company consolidated to form Semiconductor & Storage Products Company.This page describes previous Semiconductor Company's environmental activities.
Understanding the Environmental Impact of Products (LCA Calculation)
The LCA provides an estimate of the environmental impact of products, as measured in CO2 emission-equivalents, in order to obtain a baseline for each product group.
The Semiconductor Company Group calculates environmental impact of selected products from different product groups using its proprietary method of LCA calculation. By calculating LCA, it is possible to determine where to concentrate mitigation measures for each type of semiconductor product.
The following chart illustrates our approximation of comparative environmental impact for the manufacturing and use of eight semiconductor product groups, as shown by our LCA calculations converted to CO2 emissions.
The vertical axis shows the sum of CO2 contained in raw materials and emitted during the production stage, including procurement. The horizontal axis shows the sum of the emissions in the usage stage, including disposal or recycling, taking into account average conditions of use and lifespan of the applications.
For example, it is assumed in the chart that metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) will be used in power-supply adapters of personal computers, and high-intensity LEDs will be used for lights. Since the majority of CO2 emissions caused by these products in these applications occurs during use, it is more effective to enhance the efficiency of product performance than to implement measures for reducing CO2 emissions during the products' raw material or production stages.
Meanwhile, the chart assumes that memory cards will be used in digital cameras; in this application, these products are characterized by a comparatively high ratio of CO2 emitted during their production, mainly caused by clean room requirements. For this product group, the highest returns can be expected by implementing enhanced energy conservation measures during their manufacturing process.
Overall energy saving can be achieved by promoting energy savings during the manufacturing stage through development of micro-fabrication technologies enabling us to fabricate more chips from one wafer and through the activities of the Clean Room Econology Project.
On July 1st, Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company and Storage Products Company consolidated to form Semiconductor & Storage Products Company.This page describes previous Semiconductor Company's environmental activities.