 Water is one of TI's most valued resources. It is crucial
to semiconductor manufacturing, which calls for ultra-clean
conditions. It is also critical to the quality of life in
the communities where we operate, which is why we work to
use this precious resource as efficiently as possible, reducing
water use through conservation, reclamation and reuse practices.
Our environmental goal of "zero wasted resources" drives
how we plan for and monitor water use, and how efficiently
we actually use it. In addition, we identify future water
needs, regularly review municipal plans for water use adjustments,
and offer our input on reservoir construction and other public
infrastructure projects. For example, our Texas sites stay
connected with the Texas Water Development Board and its survey
activities.
Each TI site maintains a water management program through
the site's Environmental, Safety, and Health (ESH) management
system, which is at a minimum both OHSAS
18001- and ISO14001-compliant,
even if the site has not yet been certified. The Occupational
Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) and International
Standardization Organization (ISO) are internationally recognized
certification bodies that establish management criteria. Each
TI site also monitors its own progress for fair water use
and conservation.
Innovative conservation
TI strikes a balance between our own water needs and those
of surrounding communities. As a practical consideration,
when selecting the location of a new site, TI considers whether
the area has sufficient stores of water an important factor.
We review both water quality and quantity during site selection,
long before beginning construction.
Our water-use innovations have made TI one of the more efficient
water users among industry peers. A few examples include:
 A deionized water recycling/reuse system installed at
our Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, manufacturing site saved approximately
four million gallons of water per month in 2007. That number
is projected to increase to 10 million gallons in 2008.- The indoor climate-control system at our site in Freising,
Germany, pumps cold water from underground aquifers and
cycles it through a heating/cooling system, beneficially
using the water as a closed-loop heat exchanger. This water
is kept separate from all other plant water and processes,
which means it is just as clean when it is returned to the
aquifer as it was when it was originally extracted.
- TI Japan strictly adheres to its own zero-impact, zero-industrial
discharge policy to preserve certain fish populations, which
are prized community assets. Most water at the site is reused,
and the rest is used as cooling water for air conditioning
facilities.
- The Central Utility Plant's cooling tower at the North
Campus site in Dallas is used to feed building heating and
cooling systems, and reuses between 4.5 and 8.5 million
gallons per month, depending on the season.
- In 2007, TI reused about 213 million gallons of water
in our North Texas abatement systems alone. These air abatement
systems use water to "scrub" manufacturing exhaust.
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2007 performance
Our manufacturing facilities made progress during the year
in improving water efficiency by identifying ways to reduce
use and costs through improved tool efficiency and by investing
in water conservation systems at sites worldwide.
Despite this progress in 2007, TI's total water use increased
4.7 percent, due to increased production and thus an increase
in total water and sewer costs.
Of TI's total water use, we recycled 1.5 billion gallons,
or about 19 percent globally, an average of nearly 4 million
gallons of water every day. Efficiency measures and conservation
practices based on each site's unique characteristics, costs,
needs and available financial resources made this possible.
Despite our water conservation efforts, TI's water use at
our manufacturing facilities increased in 2007 by about 5.2
percent, a number that takes into account growth and increases
in production. Although water use increased 5.2 percent on
a per-wafer-shipped basis at our wafer fabrication sites,
at TI's assembly and test sites we reduced water use by 6
percent, even though the amount of processing increased 7.9
percent in 2007.
In 2008, TI plans to continue to explore opportunities for
reducing water use through conservation and reuse activities.
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