UMC Announces Resource and Energy Productivity Improvement Goals

HSINCHU, Taiwan, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced the three-year plan to improve resource and energy productivity and to reduce greenhouse emission. The announcement is timed with Earth Day to promote environmental protection living concepts and fulfill the company's commitment to corporate social responsibility. UMC's plan consists of 4 reduction aspects: electricity use, water, waste, and carbon. The goals are to achieve reductions of 3% electricity consumption, 6% water consumption and 9% waste generation by 2015, while also surpassing World Semiconductor Council's PFC reduction target by 2020.

Po-Wen Yen, CEO at UMC said, "After successfully achieving our 2010-2013 carbon reduction goals, we are happy to announce on Earth Day UMC's new three-year plan to further improve resource and energy productivity. We believe that through proactive action, we can continually fulfill green accountability and manufacturing concepts. UMC can also further strengthen its cost structure and green competitiveness by improving resource and energy productivity towards our long-term environmental sustainability goal. By championing resource sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction, we can live up to the vision of creating a sustainable environment."

UMC is engaged in its 14^th year of company-wide environmental protection activities. Through this new 3-year plan, the company is expected to reduce electricity consumption by approximately 60 million kWh, equivalent to the electricity used by 15,000 households each per year. 750,000 units of water will also be reduced, about the yearly water consumption rate for 23,000 households. The carbon emission reduction from three years of electricity and water conservation will reach 32.5 million kgCO2e, with waste generation reduced by 2,000 tons.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's robust foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the company's leading-edge processes, which include 28nm poly-SiON and gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i. Fab 12A consists of Phases 1-4 which are in production for customer products down to 28nm. Construction is underway for Phases 5&6, with future plans for Phases 7&8. The company employs over 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, mainland China, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S.  Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions.  Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks.  Further information concerning these risks is included in UMC's filings with the U.S. SEC, including on Form F-1, F-3, F-6 and 20-F, each as amended.

Media Contact:
UMC
Richard Yu
(886) 2-2658-9168 ext. 16951
[email protected]

SOURCE United Microelectronics Corporation