TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電), the world's leading chipmaker, unveiled on Monday (June 30) a breakthrough wastewater treatment system that promises to transform semiconductor manufacturing's environmental footprint. The new resource reclamation system for ammonia nitrogen wastewater, implemented at the Phase 1 site of Fab 20, will slash discharged wastewater conductivity by 40% while reducing chemical consumption by 30%. The innovation represents a major leap in sustainable manufacturing practices, cutting carbon emissions by 8,950 tons annually and generating green benefits valued at NT$102 million (approximately US$3.5 million).
According to TSMC's latest environmental, social, and governance report, the semiconductor giant previously struggled with inefficient ammonia nitrogen wastewater treatment methods that necessitated blending various concentration levels and utilizing costly reverse osmosis technology. These conventional approaches drove up both chemical consumption and equipment expenses across the company's manufacturing facilities. The innovative solution emerged from a cross-functional collaboration between TSMC's wet cleaning process specialists and facilities engineers, who jointly created a sophisticated system that meticulously analyzes wastewater discharge patterns and implements precise concentration gradient segregation protocols.
The chipmaker revealed in its sustainability report that engineers reconfigured drainage systems and updated software controls for roughly 1,000 manufacturing machines and 5,887 individual drainage points throughout the facility. These technical modifications successfully doubled ammonia nitrogen concentration levels without requiring energy-intensive reverse osmosis processes, significantly reducing both chemical consumption and waste generation. Through extensive testing, TSMC's environmental engineering team established precise optimal ratios between ammonia nitrogen concentration, water volume, and ammonium sulfate concentration, enabling them to route the segregated wastewater streams to specialized biological treatment systems and advanced degassing membranes for efficient resource recovery.
The semiconductor manufacturing leader announced that this innovative wastewater treatment approach will be incorporated as a standard design element in all future fabrication facilities and progressively implemented in existing advanced wafer manufacturing plants utilizing processes below 7 nanometers. This systematic rollout aims to substantially improve wastewater treatment efficiency across TSMC's global operations. The company is simultaneously investigating promising technologies to transform low-concentration fluoride wastewater into valuable high-purity cryolite, a mineral used in industrial processes, representing another step toward TSMC's comprehensive vision of circular resource utilization and sustainable water management practices. ◼