Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics Challenges and Opportunities (1999) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Electronics Industry
6 The Electronics Industry
Pages 107-128
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From page 107... ...
SIC 36 describes industries that produce electron tubes, printed circuit boards, semiconductors and related devices, electronic capacitors, electronic coils and transformers, electronic connectors, and electronic components. Due to the great diversity of electronics products and the desire to provide an in-depth analysis, this chapter will focus on those metrics used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices and consumer electronics products.
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From page 108... ...
Semiconductors serve two purposes: they act either as a conductor, guiding or moving an electrical current, or as an insulator, preventing the passage of heat or electricity. Typical functions of semiconductors in electronic products include information processing, displays, power handling, data storage, signal conditioning, and converting light energy to electrical energy, or vice versa.
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From page 110... ...
CURRENT USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE METRICS Metrics help semiconductor companies choose chemicals, processes, or products that have minimal environmental risk. Metrics, such as chemical use, identify processes that are material intensive or that use high-risk chemicals.
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From page 111... ...
Eliminate PFC There are no known alternatives and PFC emissions emissions international regulatory pressure. Know detailed Need to document toxicity and safety Number of risk chemical characteristics because of international assessments conducted characteristics before regulatory pressure.
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From page 112... ...
The challenge lies in developing tools that will assist in the selection of chemicals that meet the needs of semiconductor manufacturing while also improving environmental performance. As part of this effort, it is important for managers and designers to get information about the environmental and health characteristics of potential new process materials as early as possible, thus limiting health risks, environmental liabilities, and potential downtime.
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From page 113... ...
They were selected because they are produced in large quantities and subsequently released to the environment in large quantities and are generally considered to be very toxic or hazardous, and the technology exists to reduce releases of these chemicals through pollution prevention or other means. Although the goals have been met a 40 percent reduction was achieved by 1992, and 50 percent reduction was reached ahead of schedule in 1994 (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1999)
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From page 114... ...
Table 6-2 shows operating expenses of a typical semiconductor facility. The electric bill can be the largest or secondlargest expense item, representing 25 to 40 percent of a facility's operating budget (excluding capital and construction expenditures; Semiconductor Industry Association, 1997~.
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From page 115... ...
Some in the electronics industry, such as consumer and office equipment manufacturers, are beginning to recycle their products, a trend that is driving IC makers to find new mounting materials. Companies that produce both semiconductors and consumer electronics products have addressed this by developing alternative adhesive compounds.
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From page 116... ...
Today, 91 percent of packaging material shipped between TI and Ford is recyclable or reusable (Texas Instruments, 1998~. Human Health and Safety As is true for many other industries, worker health and safety is tracked in terms of accidents and injuries per 100 employees, OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses, and lost or restricted day cases.3 The Semiconductor Industry Association road map suggests that in the future more attention will be focused on improving manufacturing equipment for semiconductors and the selection of process chemicals to provide additional worker protection.
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From page 117... ...
They can also be used to forecast operational and risk-based expenses, track facility performance, establish goals and targets for a corporation, and create a baseline of company performance that can be used to benchmark against other companies in the industry. To examine the use of environmental performance metrics by semiconductor companies, the committee surveyed member companies of SEMATECH (Semiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology)
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From page 118... ...
Meanwhile, there are reports in the financial media that some investment fund managers are using environmental performance to augment the traditional screening process used to rank companies (Deutsch, 1998~. If this practice becomes commonplace, it will likely bring greater standardization to industrial environmental performance metrics.
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From page 119... ...
They were selected because they are produced in large quantities and subsequently released to the environment in large quantities; they are generally considered to be very toxic or hazardous; and the technology exists to reduce releases of these chemicals through pollution prevention or other means. Although the goals have been met a 40 percent reduction was achieved by 1992, and 50 percent reduction was reached ahead of schedule in 1994 (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1999)
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From page 120... ...
Manufacturers of consumer electronics products, on the other hand, are like automobile manufacturers: They have to take into account consumer as well as Semiconductor ~ Printed Circuit Board ~ Electronics FIGURE 6-2 Heirarchy of the electronics industry. Trains Planes Automobiles Computers Appliances Toys Etc.
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From page 121... ...
The computer workstation that served as the focus of the study has changed dramatically, making specific results less relevant, but trends related to product energy use are still valid. A growing body of literature on DFE in the electronics industry suggests several common practices related to life-cycle factors and waste-stream issues in the disposal of products.
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From page 123... ...
THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY 123 design for disassembly and separability, or simplifying product disas sembly and material recovery using techniques such as color-coding plastics or snap fasteners to hold components together; design for recyclability, or ensuring both high recycled content in product materials and maximum recycling so there is minimum waste at the end of product life; design for reusability, or ensuring that components are compatible with different product lines and recovered, refurbished, and reused across prod uct lines; design for remanufacture, or enabling recovery of postindustrial or post consumer materials for recycling as input to the manufacture of new products; and design for disposability, or ensuring that all materials and components can be safely and efficiently disposed of. Electronics companies with large, leased-based products have also begun to incorporate another practice: product life extension.
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From page 124... ...
The impacts of this revolution on improving environmental performance are already being felt, particularly in the monitoring and control of energy emissions and materials use, in aiding quality and inventory controls, and through improved control of manufacturing processes. Many energy-saving technologies and process changes that promote cleaner production depend on the incorporation of electronic sensors and monitors.
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From page 125... ...
723 1 ''' -- -''-'- 1 Raw mnteri~ls ~ PaMs made with mcycled mate[lals Repelled or mused pads Blending recyclable materials . 1 Re~Hng Aver Post p~u~r (molder)
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From page 126... ...
1998. Encouraging modular design.
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From page 127... ...
Paper presented at NAE Workshop on Industrial Environmental Metrics, January 28-29, Washington, D.C. Intel.
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