Product-related Environmental Protection

Semiconductors are an enabling technology that improves our all day life, such as in safety applications, in improving medical treatment, in energy efficiency, and in comfort. For us at Infineon Technologies, this increasing number of electronic applications is understood as increasing chance and responsibility at the same time.
Keeping our products and facilities on the leading edge with respect to environmental compatibility – of manufacturing and products - is a high-priority element of our agenda.
Infineon Technologies is moving towards working exclusively with new environmentally friendly materials in the manufacture of its products. This commitment is part of our IMPRES policy.
Long before legislation focused on product-related environmental regulations, Infineon Technologies had already established comprehensive approaches within the supply chain to ensure utmost performance.
Our Environmental Key Accounting has proven successful. It defines Infineon’s strategy of identifying trends at an early stage and tapping potential for optimization. The basis for this is established by open communication with our partners - customers and suppliers alike. This year we held numerous talks with our customers at corporate level, thereby avoiding many customer audits at site level, saving costs for all involved and providing transparency.

The European Union, in tune with similar environmental initiatives world-wide, has adopted the Restriction of the Use of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive. We have implemented a clear conversion and fulfill legal demands with maximum efficiency and minimum cost.
 

 
According to our specifications, products containing materials with less than 1000ppm lead content can be referred to as “green Product.” Our aim is to use only mold compounds and substrate materials that contain less than 900ppm of chlorine and bromine.
 
Infineon Technologies “green Products” meet long-term customer requirements and business needs.
   
According to the Chinese RoHS requirements and in order to provide our customers with relevant information on our products we have established an Internet-based customer platform.

Economic optimization often benefits the environment, too. As in many cases, technical progress and high tech are clearly essential requirements for the achievement of sustainable environmental protection. However, sustainability is not just a question of manufacturing semiconductor components and products in an environmentally friendly way. With our products we actively contribute to environmental protection, and improve the lives of modern people and societies in an ecological, economic, and social sense.
 

• Infineon Technologies Products Enable Clever Energy Management
  Saving electricity is one of the most important ”power sources.” As the number of electrical and electronic devices used in daily life, manufacturing, and service industries continues to grow, saving electricity is more important than ever. Our innovative power semiconductors play an important role here by reducing the energy consumption of household appliances by up to 30 percent.
  Consider our CoolMOS family, for example. These switched-mode power supplies are smaller than their predecessors, yet far more energy-efficient. They help save electricity in products such as power transformer units for notebooks, PC, and LCD display power supply units, as well as charging units. We call them “cool” because they generate considerably less heat than usual products, and therefore need no conventional heat sinks.
   
• Infineon Technologies Products help to reduce Fuel Consumption
  Modern automobiles cannot manage without semiconductors. As one of the largest manufacturers of semiconductors for automotive applications, Infineon Technologies’ products not only help to steer power trains and control navigation systems, they also improve engine and gear control to further reduce fuel consumption and the emission of harmful gases. Furthermore, tire pressure control systems in cars - as sensors developed by Infineon Technologies, are good for the environment: Correctly inflated tires roll better, last longer, and reduce fuel consumption. According to the Technical Inspection Agency TÜV-North in Germany a tire pressure half a bar too low can increase fuel consumption by five percent.