UMC Expands Climate Change Policy and Carbon Emission Reduction Goals

HSINCHU, Taiwan, April 20 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TAIEX: 2303; UMC), a leading global semiconductor foundry, will announce its new climate change policy and carbon emission reduction plans on April 22nd, Earth Day, in its drive to promote low-carbon living concepts and fulfill the company's commitment to corporate social responsibility. This Earth Day announcement will also kick off a one-month series of related environmental protection activities building up to UMC's 30th anniversary celebration on May 20th.

UMC's green efforts include establishing a New Business Development Center to promote the growth of a low carbon economy by investing across the entire supply chain of the green technology industry, including renewable energy, solar energy, and new generation light-emitting diode (LED). The first several investments focused on the LED and solar energy industries, in companies such as LED lighting company Power Light Co. and photovoltaic engineering design company EverRich Energy Corporation. UMC hopes to contribute to energy saving and carbon reduction through revolutionary breakthroughs in green technologies and applications, establishing itself as a leader in the green technology industry while injecting fresh enthusiasm for sustainable development within the company.

Dr. Shih-Wei Sun, CEO and chairman of UMC's CSR Committee, will announce UMC's climate change policy and carbon emission reduction plans on April 22nd. The new plans include reduction targets of 33% for normalized perfluorinated compounds (PFC) emission and 3% for electricity usage by 2012*. It is estimated that once the plan is completed, CO2 emission will be reduced by another 170,000 tons each year, bringing the total CO2 emission reduction achieved through UMC's carbon reduction measures to 43%, or approximately 1.1 million tons per year. PFC emissions will be reduced by as much as 75% with the new plan when combined with existing efforts.

Dr. Sun commented, "UMC established a PFC emission reduction team in 1999 in response to global warming. Since then, we have made significant progress in reaching voluntary reduction goals earlier than the 2010 targets set by the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA). As UMC celebrates its 30th anniversary, this climate change policy announcement illustrates our company's expansive vision and targets for carbon reduction during this post-Kyoto Protocol period. UMC's climate change policy includes 1) achieving carbon neutral status via carbon management, 2) becoming a comprehensive low-carbon solution provider, and 3) leveraging corporate resources to cultivate a low- carbon economy. These guidelines will enable UMC to respond to climate change issues and help UMC live up to its vision of being a sustainable green foundry. UMC will be the advocator of low-carbon innovation, the provider of low-carbon solutions, and furthermore, the practitioner of low-carbon activities."

Achieving carbon neutral status will be the ultimate goal for UMC's carbon management program. This goal will be achieved through program measures including energy saving, emission reduction, supply chain management and low- carbon products production. In 2007 UMC led the foundry industry in completing the replacement of C2F6 with C3F8 in all of its fabs, reducing CO2 emissions by 450,000 tons per year. Furthermore, the more carbon efficient C4F8 was introduced in 2008. Combined with other energy saving measures and a policy of furbishing new fabs with highly efficient abatement systems, emission reduction efficiency has been highly improved.

The month-long series of environmental protection activities will begin on April 22 with a showing of the environmental documentary "+/-2 degrees Celsius". Through these series of activities, UMC hopes to instill energy saving and carbon reduction values and knowledge to cultivate green habits in its employees, to further inspire the formation of a low-carbon society, and to enhance the company's long-term sustainable competitiveness.

*Note: The base year is 2009.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing services for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the strength of the company's leading-edge processes, which include production proven 65nm, 45/40nm, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. The company employs approximately 12,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

    Editorial Contacts:

    In the USA:
     Charlene Loveless
     Tel:   +1-408-523-7850
     Email: [email protected]

    In Taiwan:
     Richard Yu
     Tel:   +886-2-2700-6999 ext. 6951
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE United Microelectronics Corporation