We contribute to resource circularity through waste recycling

Zero Waste to Landfill is validated by UL, a global safety certification organization that gives out platinum, gold, and silver designations based on the percentage of waste used as resources.

This is a key indicator in evaluating a company’s steps toward a circular economy. UL was established in the U.S. in 1894 as an international certification testing agency providing the development and certification of product testing standards and is considered a highly trusted safety certification in the U.S.

Former UL CEO Keith Williams stated in a media interview that the reason why U.S. consumers feel relieved when they see the UL logo is because UL gained credibility through its uncompromising testing process.

We are proud to have passed this strict UL validation process, becoming the first company in Korea to earn the highest platinum level of validation.

Samsung Semiconductor routinely analyzes the composition of wastewater sludge, which makes up over 50% of the waste generated at DS manufacturing sites, aiming to utilize sludge as a resource. By leveraging our analysis of wastewater sludge that can be monitored through our in-house system, we have identified and broadened the scope of reclaimed wastewater.
We extract copper from wastewater sludge and recycle it. Additionally, we employ various methods to decrease the amount of sludge produced, such as reducing the water content of sludge and modifying the chemicals utilized in wastewater treatment plants.

We have recycled SUS¹⁾ pipes and waste quartz²⁾ that were initially disposed after verifying that they are non-hazardous general wastes through multi-component analyses: certain pipes and waste quartz wastes are recycled into raw materials for aluminum alloys and glass, respectively.

Absorbents used in the DS Division's air pollutant abatement equipment were previously incinerated, but now are being reused, as an adsorbent producer has developed a technology to produce regenerated adsorbents through a firing and molding process. As a result, we reuse approximately 200 tonnes of waste absorbents annually. In 2019, we developed the world's first regenerated CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) pads, which are made of polyurethane and used in wafer polishing, and registered a joint patent. Currently, we reuse approximately 700 sheets per month, gradually increasing the number since 2021.

Waste containing CV dust from production lines can explode if it is burned, so it has to go to landfills. Thanks to unfaltering material research and technology development, we succeeded in extracting valuable metals such as gold and tungsten from the CV dust. Samsung Semiconductor even recycles dust! Through a thorough analysis of raw materials and devotion to technological innovation, Samsung Semiconductor was able to discover great value in the smallest dust particles.