Sustainable innovation and Ecodesign
At ASM, we care about making our products as sustainable as possible. This includes minimizing the effects of our own production processes, reducing the environmental impact of using our products, developing new technologies to enable more energy-efficient computer chips, and supporting the principles of Ecodesign and responsible product lifecycle management to minimize our greenhouse gas impact further.
Product sustainability
The most significant contribution to ASM’s environmental footprint is the customers' everyday use of our products. This is the predominant element of our Scope 3 GHG emissions. So to help us achieve our ambitious Net Zero 2035 target, we are working hard to make our products more sustainable in their day-to-day operation.
We are doing this mainly by focusing on the use of process chemistries and gases, on the products’ own electricity consumption, and its overall efficiency. In addition to improving our products' energy and resource efficiency, we also seek to influence our customers to accelerate their adoption of renewable electricity.
Ecodesign
We continue to improve our capabilities in Ecodesign, to reduce the energy used and resources consumed across our product portfolio. In line with our innovation DNA, we have identified directions that will enable additional gains for new products. These include:
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Further innovations in wafer throughput
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Developing and implementing more high-efficiency components
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Compact chamber and system design to minimize cleanroom footprint
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Lowering resource consumption without compromising performance by further optimizing electricity, water, and gas flows
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Advanced energy-saving states and “intelligent handshakes” between components
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Facilitating the use of greener supporting equipment by our customers
Enabling more power-efficient chips
The growth in energy used for data processing in data centers remains a significant global concern, with its rate of increase outpacing overall energy consumption growth. Due to breakthroughs in areas like AI, the continued acceleration of computing needs is expected. Similar concerns exist for the vast array of electronics in the world – they’re smarter, and make our lives better, but they contribute to growth in overall energy demand.
The challenge is, therefore, to reduce the power consumption in advanced semiconductor devices – while still increasing their performance. ASM’s researchers and engineers are working every day to develop new materials and process technologies that make this possible. The advances we are working on today will be in your next-generation smartphone five or more years from now.
Product lifecycle management
At ASM, product stewardship and product life cycle management (PLC) are at the core of how we develop new products and technologies. In practice, this means we must understand our markets and the challenges our customers face in every detail. And we are always mindful of our other stakeholders' expectations for responsible product life cycle management as we look to further our sustainable practices.
Our goals remain the same: address our customers’ challenges, enable their roadmaps, and meet stakeholder expectations. In line with our sustainability objectives, we carefully examine the environmental impact of our products along their entire life cycle – from the very first idea to end-of-life decommissioning – looking for further Ecodesign opportunities to increase efficiency, circularity, and overall sustainability.
Ultimately, this approach also allows ASM to develop products more efficiently. And for our customers, the results are more efficient and productive products. At each step of the process, we aim to lower a product’s environmental impact and extend its useful life.
Sustainability
At ASM, we are committed to upholding high standards in sustainability, labor, and ethics practices.
