ENVIRONMENTS WHERE INNOVATION THRIVES
Edwards environmental mission is to strive to minimise the impact of the semiconductor industry on our natural world and environment.
Satisfying output demands and environmental constraints is a growing challenge. Add environmental reporting standards and growing emission regulations driven by climate change frameworks and it is clear manufacturers need to work with equipment suppliers to look at total set up.
That's why we work with our customers at the forefront of developing equipment and systems to minimise resource use; power, water, and utilities, combined with Service strategies to maximise Fab efficiency while minimising environmental impact.
What our experts say about environmental sustainability
6 ways to reach your environmental sustainability goals.
- Take a holistic view of your operational methodology, equipment and system plan, energy use, and the relationship between the cleanroom and SubFab. Edwards holds a leading role in semiconductor industry associations such as the Climate Consortium and can work with you on your strategy.
- Assess equipment investment, not only in terms of production output and total ownership costs, but also product lifetime, environmental sustainability and energy consumption
- Benefit from the advantages of equipment technology upgrades
- Consider remanufacturing were possible: it is a sustainable option to prolong the life of assets, all at the lowest environmental cost
- Work with the Edwards Service teams to mitigate your Fab's carbon footprint by exploiting new energy efficiency initiatives in the SubFab and making use of Edwards' local STCs
- Take advantage of an Edwards predictive maintenance regime, to not only reduce environmental impact but reduce costs and boost output.
We are happy to work with our customers to implement strategies and service plans that can have a positive and far-reaching impact beyond standard compliance requirements.
Actively engaged in managing environmental commitments
Semiconductor Fabs use a wide range of chemicals, gases, and equipment. We believe by driving better design in our Fab and SubFab equipment for our customers, we will ultimately magnify the benefit to the environment.
For example; Edwards abatement performance has a significant impact on end-user factory GHG emissions. In 2022 we have prevented 20 metric tons of CO2 emissions at our customers’ facilities alone, which equals the scale of those of Milan, Barcelona and Madrid. Our guiding motivation is to Remove, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Edwards is a founding member of the Semiconductor Climate Consortium, the first forum to bring into review the whole eco system of the industry.
Edwards focus on environmental issues
- Energy and utility consumption
- Air care
- Waste reduction
- Monitoring and reporting
Energy and utility consumption
Edwards design engineers work to reduce the use of power, water and utilities used in production. For example, a recent Edwards dry pump design development reduces energy use by a third.
Air care
Semiconductor manufacturing emits a variety of pollutants into the air and water, including VOCs, particulate matter, and heavy metals. Edwards is famous for its abatement systems, designed to make these emissions safe before they leave the Fab, and has by far the largest abatement install base globally.
Waste reduction
This can be done by using more efficient processes, recycling materials, and reusing chemicals and other materials. Edwards expert Chris Bailey discusses the processes involved in recycling and material recovery in the video below. At Edwards, we work closely with our customers to devise strategies and equipment design to reduce emissions.
Monitoring and reporting
Fabs must monitor their environmental impacts and take steps to reduce them. Edwards stays current of all environmental guidelines to ensure its equipment and processes support our customers in this.
Service Solutions for environmental sustainability
- Remanufacturing
- Upgrades
- Service Plans
- Total Risk Management Solution
Remanufacturing
The Circular Economy model aims to redefine the current “take (resources) – make (products) – waste” cycle, by introducing new principles such as reuse, repair, remanufacture. Edwards remanufacturing solutions gives your vacuum and abatement equipment fleet another lease of life and contribute to your sustainability goals.
Upgrades
Edwards has developed a range of upgrades to minimise the environmental impact of your equipment performance
Service Plans
Edwards offers a range of service plans that will help you to reach your environmental sustainability goals. Planned maintenance can have a significant impact on your operations. Prolonging the lifetime of your equipment fleet will make more efficient use of your resources as you may need fewer backup units to run a seamless operation; it will also reduce the waste from needlessly discarded equipment. An effective service plan will help you to reach your Scope 3 emission target as it will optimise your supply chain, including the transportation of spare parts and engineers.
Total Risk Management contracts
Our Risk Management solutions can have a significant impact on your sustainability targets in terms of resource optimisation and wellbeing. Our Predictive analytics algorithms are developed according to your specific needs and give advanced warnings when a machine is going to fail, allowing to align process tool maintenance with vacuum and abatement maintenance. This reduces the risk and uncertainty associated with vacuum and abatement down events, and also reduces the frustration across the Clean-Room and SubFab teams caused by unexpected disruptions in the production process.
