GAMS Outcomes

by Semiconductor Industry Association

Published Tuesday, November 4, 2014
The ESH Committee had a series of productive meetings in Fukuoka, Japan as part of the recent GAMS/JSTC meetings. The committee continued its work on PFCs, chemicals, and other issues. The committee also discussed initiating new activities on health and safety, but was unable to reach an agreement on a workplan going forward, and those discussions will continue at the next meeting.

On PFCs, the group discussed the need to correct the data published in May as part of the WSC Joint Statement. Unfortunately, one region originally reported data that it subsequently determined to be erroneous, and therefore the WSC statement reported a slight increase in the reported normalized emission rate (NER). With the corrected data, the results will show a reduction in the NER of 7.1 percent since 2010. The group also discussed a number of challenges facing the WSC in its future reporting. For example, the WSC has reported in the past under the IPCC guidelines, and all of the regions of the WSC other than the U.S. will continue using that methodology. Beginning in the 2014 reporting year, however, the U.S. will begin reporting under EPA’s Subpart I. This is important because, under initial estimates, Subpart I will likely result in an increase in reported emissions for the US, which will likely impact the overall WSC results. The group also discussed the need for all countries and regions to submit their data in a timely manner, and the group confirmed the need for data to be submitted by March 31, the same date as the EPA reporting deadline.

On chemicals, the group continued its ongoing monitoring of developments around the world. The group agreed that there were no particular developments at this time that pose a major threat to the industry, including with regard to “articles.” With regard to nanomaterials, the group agreed to survey members to identify R&D activities. The GAMS statement expressed support for increased nano ESH research. The US has a reasonably robust ESH research agenda under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), and we hope to press other countries/regions to increase their investment in this area.

On resource conservation, the WSC will continue to collect data on electricity, water, and waste and report this information. The data from this past year shows increases in electricity and waste due to more complex processes; water data decreasing due to more reclamation. The group will also continue work to demonstrate the energy efficiency benefits of semiconductors, and will work with suppliers to improve energy efficiency of new leading edge equipment

The next meeting of the ESH Committee will be during the week of Feb. 2-6, 2015 in Seoul, Korea. The next International High Tech ESH Symposium will be held in Jeju, Korea on June 15-18, 2015.

Thanks to Tim Yeakley (TI) and David Speed (IBM) for their leadership at the meetings, and to Laurie Beu (SEMATECH) for presenting via phone at the PFC meeting.