Semiconductor manufacturing requires large amounts of clean water, clean air, electric power and chemical compounds. Processing the waste by-products is a major concern.
Any waste is evaluated for recycling and each step assessed.
For example, shared recycling with other manufacturers in other industries, impact of recycling itself on the environment and safety concerns. Only after confirming their viability, the work proceeds. As a result, NEC has partnered with nine industries to realize recycling technologies. In June 2000, this culminated in NEC Electron Devices realizing zero emissions. Compared with semiconductor industry-wide average of around 60 percent, this shows how far we have come.