Drawing a chip environmental profile: environmental indicators for the semiconductor industry

The semiconductor industry plays an ever-increasing role in society, providing microelectronic components called chips that are used in a wide variety of electronic applications. The rapid increase of the production of chips is responsible for considerable effects on the environment during the different phases of their life cycle. In spite of increasing pressure from stakeholders to control these effects, no international standard or agreement has yet been established. In this context, the paper proposes a set of environmental indicators that take into account the most serious damages induced by these products. To establish an exhaustive list of indicators, the specificities of the semiconductor branch are first analysed in literature, identifying pressures on the sector coming from the downstream chain - chip buyers and users - and finally by analysing data from industrial case studies. In order to highlight the most significant direct and indirect impacts, each aspect of the chips' life cycle phases is studied independently. The indicators reflect the particularities of the industry and point out the major impact categories. They can be therefore be used for standardized environmental analysis of microelectronic products. The paper retains seven environmental indicators: resource depletion, eutrophication, water stress, toxicity, summer smog and local electrical consumption. The final set of indicators will help draw the environmental profile of the microelectronic chips over the full life cycle of the products. It is a step towards necessary standardization in the microelectronic industry. The indicators are consistent with current state of the art and can evolve as progress is made on the definition and calculation of new indicators. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.