To meet the international environmental regulations and to provide clients/customers with innocuous products, PSMC has established a hazardous-substance management system, both of which ensure that no prohibited substances are used in or mixed with our products and that no products are polluted by hazardous substances. All these efforts are made to reduce the possible impacts of our products on the environment, and, furthermore, to fulfill our corporate social responsibility.

PSMC not only implements the control of hazardous substances in the purchase of raw materials, product manufacturing and transportation, but also guides suppliers and outsourced processors to join in on the implementation, and work together to create a green product supply chain.

In order to maintain the environmental quality, PSMC strictly controls the emission of pollutants and has complied with the regulatory standards over the years. The air pollutants in the semiconductor manufacturing industry are divided into two categories: acid-base and volatile organic gases, which are discharged after treatment of acid-base exhausts by wet scrubber, and organic exhausts are discharged after adsorption and concentration by zeolite concentrator rotor and incineration by burner. The pollution prevention is carried out using the best feasible technology, and the content of pollutants discharged meets or exceeds the legal requirements.

In order to effectively manage air pollution emissions, PSMC has implemented the ISO 14001 environmental management system with the goal of continuously reducing pollutant emissions and refining the best available technology. In addition to taking measures to enhance the air pollution prevention equipment in the plant against possible pollutants, we are also working together with other companies in the Science Park to assess relevant air pollution issues, and to evaluate from time to time whether to add or improve prevention equipment for the production process, and to improve the perception of related issues, such as the improvement of odor and white smoke. The related improvement projects will be carried out in accordance with the schedule, such as Local Scrubber (L/S) operation optimization and processing efficiency verification, Central Scrubber (C/S) processing efficiency verification, efficiency improvement, prevention equipment addition or replacement, and white smoke improvement. The air pollution improvement projects and results in 2022 are as follows:

PSMC has dedicated staff at each of its plants to manage the waste in the plants, and the relevant departments of Plant Services, General Affairs and Property Management have also assisted in the implementation of related activities. PSMC continues to adhere to the management concept of introducing life cycle into waste management, and consistently promote reduction measures. In addition, in conjunction with the monitoring and verification of the replacement of machines, pipelines and valves to reduce waste production, we will achieve overall waste reduction.

PSMC continues to uphold the spirit of a shared planet, with the concepts of reduction, recycling, and reuse at the core of waste management, and diligently attends to the waste generated on site and evaluates the adequacy of the waste disposal market. The plant's safety, health, and environmental committee compares the reasonableness of waste production (raw material volume vs. waste) every quarter, and completes internal management review procedures in accordance with the ISO 14001 environmental management system, and conducts PDCA effectiveness evaluations on emission management every quarter.

PSMC’s four major objectives are:

Objective 1. Source Reduction:

Items include: Implement effective classification and save water resources, Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) Concentration Reuse, EKC waste liquid reduction, Upgrade the equipment of filter, Waste Liquid Recovery, and Reduction of waste thermal storage medium.

Objective 2. End of Process Waste Reduction:

Items include: Ammonia Nitrogen Wastewater Treatment, Sludge Waste Reduction, and Convert replacement materials into refractory materials

Objective 3. Enhancement of Waste Reuse Value

The waste generated by the Company mainly consists of waste solvents, waste acids and sludge. By strengthening the front-end sorting, continuously improving the value of waste, and cooperating with manufacturers to conduct recycling feasibility assessments, we can ensure the safe disposal of back-end products.

Objective 4. Proper Disposal and Tracking of Waste Flow

PSMC attaches great importance to environmental protection, and the waste generated is categorized according to type and disposal method, and is cleaned up and reused by qualified waste vendors; strict requirements are met for waste cleaning in accordance with the Waste Disposal Act and international regulations, among which the nickel-cadmium batteries used in the DC chargers and the SUPS systems at each plant needed to be replaced every 3-4 years. All the produced waste will be shipped to advanced countries for recycling in accordance with the Basel Convention.

Every year, PSMC draws up a comprehensive waste vendor audit plan, coordinates with industry associations and the in-house audit schedule to pay regular visits to the industrial waste removal and disposal businesses, to ensure that compliance with the laws and regulations and the legality of proper disposal are the primary objectives of the audits.
In addition to conducting regular audits of waste vendors and planning the annual evaluation of waste vendors at the end of each year, the scope of the evaluation is divided into five categories of operation management.

In order to ensure that the overall process and flow of waste disposal and reuse are well documented and ready for effective inspection at all times, and to ensure that no deliberate violation of laws or pollution of the environment occurs, PSMC signed the TSIA Convention for Waste Disposal and Reuse by High-Tech Industries initiated by the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association. The company continues to cooperate with the Association to implement the Waste Disposal Vendor Counseling and Evaluation Program and to appoint a third party to conduct source-side audits of waste disposal companies to confirm that the management operations meet the requirements of the Self-Regulation Convention. The Company has always complied with environmental protection laws and regulations, and the primary goal of environmental protection work at each plant is to reduce pollution emissions. In recent years, PSMC has not suffered any losses due to environmental pollution incidents and has not experienced any disputes due to pollution related incidents since its establishment.

Being a green enterprise is one of PSMC's goals. The Company conforms to the hazardous substance management policy, from obeying the law to mitigating risks, in hopes of improving its Hazardous Substance Process Management (HSPM) and satisfying the needs and expectations of its stakeholders. As such, the Company has attained the certification of IECQ QC080000, and on the existing basis of ISO9001, constructed the technological management process of QC080000 to control hazardous substances. These measures ensure legal compliance and satisfy its customers, proving it prioritized and committed to the systematic management of hazardous substances. In the second quarter of 2020, all five plants of the Company passed the IECQ QC080000 certification.

PSMC is committed in its social responsibility in environmental protection, thus pledges that its manufacturing facility and process has complied with international standards and regulations on environmental protection issues, which means meeting customer requirements on environmental protection specifications for products without the expense on the environment. Since 2003, PSMC has been actively promoting green design, green procurement, green manufacturing, and green packaging. Also, the Company has been approved by all customers and has obtained the certification of SONY to become a Green Partner. The company's products are in compliance with the requirements of relevant international regulations listed in the IEC62474 material declaration list. Through customer's investigation, the proportion of PSMC’s product containing IEC 62474 substances is 0%.

To ensure the sustainable development of the environment and society, governments from various countries and environmental groups (e.g. the EC member states) have constructed related regulations for environmental protection. The governments then enact laws and impose penalties in ways that corporations and non-governmental environmental groups can practice. Below is a table with summarized common international regulations: