Together for a sustainable future. Infineon drives circular economy with supplier partnerships

The concept of a circular economy represents a paradigm shift from the traditional linear model of "take, make, dispose" to a more sustainable approach where resources and values are kept in use for as long as possible. By designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems, the circular economy aims to create a closed-loop system that minimizes resource input and waste generation.

The semiconductor industry, known for its rapid innovation and extensive use of resources, faces increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices. At the forefront of this movement, Infineon is pioneering concrete measures to enhance the circular economy within its operations and semiconductor production processes.

Furthermore, Infineon actively engages with partners and suppliers to foster a more sustainable supply chain. Initiatives such as wafer box re-use, wafer re-claim, and chemicals recycling are prime examples of how collaboration can lead to significant reductions in waste and resource consumption. It is a also a key lever to reduce scope 3 emissions which make up 86% of overall emissions for the company.

Infineon is dedicated to fostering a circular economy by implementing R-strategies, focusing on the 6R concept: Reduce, reliability, repair, reuse, refurbish, and recycle. The following examples show that following these principles, circular economy is integrated in the Infineon business at multiple levels.

Infineon is collaborating with Applied Materials Inc. via the supplier’s innovative Xchange program: The program enables take-back and refurbishment of spare parts for complex semiconductor equipment. While the spare parts enable repair and lifetime extension for equipment, the take-back system enables refurbishment of the replaced parts.

We are constantly looking for additional Circular economy opportunities. In 2024, we further expanded the process for the reuse of wafer boxes at our sites in Kulim (Malaysia), Villach (Austria) and Dresden (Germany). The wafer boxes are collected at the sites, and returned to the suppliers, enabling its reuse for subsequent deliveries. Overall, more than 7,000 boxes made hard plastic were shipped back to suppliers last year. The boxes for the delivery of 12-inch wafers boxes can weigh up to 5kg – so, significant materials and carbon emission from their production can be saved by working together with our suppliers to reuse these boxes.

Infineon already partners for 25 years with external providers to establish a reclaim loop to re-use test wafers. In addition, in 2021, Infineon engineers in close collaboration with suppliers developed a new method to remove metal layers of failed prime wafers while protecting Infineon’s IP. This innovation enabled a new refurbishment process for structured wafers that were rejected in the course of manufacturing. These wafers can be now re-used as monitor wafers. Every year, Infineon refurbishes significantly more than 1,000,000 test, reclaim and prime wafers externally.

The semiconductor manufacturing process requires chemicals, especially solvents. Infineon already started to recycle these solvents more than 15 years ago being a pioneer in this area. Solvent waste is collected from our production sites in Villach, Regensburg, Dresden and Kulim after use and sent to different local recycling partners. In a closed loop system, they are purified and processed to meet the high-quality standards required for our industry. In 2024, 322 t of the solvent CPT (i.e. approximately 340,000 liters) and 578 tons of the solvent PGMEA (approximately 600,000 liters) were recycled and then reused in our production. This helps to foster resource and energy efficiency and reduces the volume of fresh material required in our production processes.

Infineon is pioneering a groundbreaking approach to reducing CO₂ emissions through NEON recycling. By immediately cleaning the laser gas at our litho-DUV laser chambers, we reduce consumption by up to 80%, leading to significant cost savings and a direct reduction in Scope 3 CO₂ emissions. Developed in collaboration with our local partner, the Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik gGmbH (ILK) in Dresden, this innovative process strengthens the local economy and showcases our commitment to sustainability. With a 50% reduction in KrF laser gas consumption already achieved and over 1,000 tons of CO₂ emissions reduced per year, we're driving positive change in our industry.

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