Environmental Sustainability

From our energy-efficient fabs to stringent emission controls, GlobalFoundries has a proven track record of environmentally responsible manufacturing and operations. 

We recognize climate change is an unprecedented global challenge, and we are committed to growing responsibly and minimizing our impact on the environment. 

Learn more about our sustainability efforts and outcomes below. 

To achieve this goal, we are enhancing manufacturing emission controls, further improving energy efficiency, sourcing renewable and lower-carbon energy, and taking other actions. Our Journey to Zero Carbon initiative supports the aims of the Paris Agreement, which calls for significant reductions by 2030 on a path to global “Net Zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Learn More 

Energy Management 

We are committed to being an industry leader in sustainable manufacturing. Making semiconductor chips is among the most complex and sophisticated manufacturing processes in the world, requiring up to thousands of individual steps over several months. We continually improve and optimize this process, identifying and implementing further efficiencies and energy-saving measures into our operations. 

From 2019-2021, our sustainability and efficiency efforts have resulted in the annual savings of 86 million kWh of electricity – enough to power approximately 8,000 U.S households for a year. Read the full report.

Water Management 

Water is vital to our planet. It is also necessary for semiconductor manufacturing. As part of our water conservation efforts, from 2019-2021 we have implemented projects saving 1.5 million m³ of water annually – about the water used by more than 600 U.S. households in one year. These savings are driven by our extensive water reclamation programs in place at our manufacturing facilities. In 2021, 41% of our total water use was covered by recycled and reused water from water reclaim programs.   

GlobalFoundries manufacturing sites are not located in, and do not use water from, any identified high water stress areas. Read the full report.

Climate 

We recognize climate change is an unprecedented global challenge, and we are committed to growing responsibly and reducing our emissions in a meaningful way. We are already taking action to meet our Journey to Zero Carbon goal of reducing our total greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2030. It’s the right thing to do – for our business, for our global team, and for our planet. From 2019-2021, GF achieved savings in annual greenhouse gas emissions by 56,300 metric tons of carbon equivalents (MTCE). Read the full report.

Waste Management 

As part of our efforts to increase the sustainability and efficiency of our operations, GlobalFoundries carefully manages waste created as part of our manufacturing processes. We recycle and reuse as much of this waste as possible, with the goal of keeping waste out of landfills. For example, spent sulfuric acid from our facilities is reused in wastewater treatment or in the manufacture of fertilizers. From 2019-2021, GF realized savings of 18,100 tons of chemical use and corresponding waste generation. Read the full report. 

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