STMicroelectronics is among the world’s main semiconductor corporations and is the world first semiconductor firm dedicated to develop into carbon impartial by 2027. ST is dedicated to sustainability and is actively working to scale back the environmental influence of its enterprise practices.
On this interview, with Rajita D’Souza, President of Human Sources and Company Social Accountability, STMicroelectronics, we learnt about ST’s general dedication to sustainability and Carbon Impartial initiatives. Excerpts
ELE Occasions: What’s ST’s imaginative and prescient for sustainability within the semiconductor business and influence that ST goals to create given the tempo of change and disruption in the present day?
ST: The semiconductor business works behind the scenes, powering virtually all the pieces in our trendy lives. Therefore, ST performs an important position in constructing a extra sustainable way of life. Sustainability isn’t an entire new story for us —we created our first environmental coverage in 1993 and launched our first environmental report in 1997. And we now have been striving to extend our efforts and the transparency of our reporting yearly since then. Along with defending the setting, ST consistently goals to enhance its social and financial influence. Placing folks first and creating long-term worth for our 200,000 prospects and the native communities the place we function are equally necessary. As President of Human Sources and Company Social, I’m blissful to share that ST has set a powerful technique with lifelike objectives, reaching net-zero carbon emissions throughout our operations by 2027 being one in every of them.
ELE Occasions: Please share firm’s priorities for selling sustainability initiatives?
ST: On the extra sensible side, ST’s ambition interprets right into a long-term train. Aligning with the United Nations’ sustainable growth objectives, our agenda has develop into broader but in addition extra exact through the years. And simply as with every enterprise exercise, we consistently monitor our sustainability course of with information to grasp the place we’re and the place we have to go. ST additionally receives common third-party evaluations to make sure full transparency. With this aim in thoughts, we rigorously choose our suppliers and subcontractors, making positive all of them share the identical strategic imaginative and prescient, and adjust to our transparency and traceability necessities.
Individuals are our greatest asset. However making sustainability a part of our DNA and embed it in our on a regular basis resolution course of aren’t sufficient. Create an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable future additionally requires a good quantity of innovation. And that’s the place ST comes into play. Yearly, the corporate invests greater than 13.5% of its income in analysis, $1.72 billion in 2021. Working along with the most effective R&D facilities across the globe, our creators push the boundaries of applied sciences, investigating earth-abundant supplies and new designs, resembling the flexibility to stack chips on high of one another to make electronics merchandise extra power environment friendly.
We live in a interval of change, with a brand new power panorama. Immediately’s complicated financial, social, and political dynamics require fixed consideration and extraordinary responsiveness. To handle the chip scarcity and speed up the transition, ST, along with its companions, is bolstering manufacturing throughout the globe with two further semiconductor “fabs” to be inbuilt Europe subsequent yr. We’re additionally planning to broaden in Asia.
ELE Occasions: How is the rollout of ST’s sustainability initiatives and the way are your making certain that know-how improvements are adopted?
ST: We innovate to help the transition of society to a extra sustainable method with low-carbon and energy-efficient merchandise. From supplies, design to manufacturing, ST masters all the semiconductor worth chain. In distinction to pure semiconductor foundries, this enterprise mannequin offers us the flexibility to behave quickly on all fronts. In 2021, 37% of our gross sales got here from merchandise that assist reduce greenhouse fuel emissions throughout the product lifecycle in keeping with the European taxonomy normal, and 69% of ST new merchandise have been labeled as accountable.
We consider innovation performs a significant half in going through in the present day’s local weather change challenges. Greater than 8,400 R&D engineers work throughout our websites to speed up the transitions. Our disruptive applied sciences are serving to make good mobility, business 4.0, power administration and energy effectivity, in addition to superior connectivity not solely attainable, however simple and inexpensive. Large bandgap applied sciences resembling silicon carbide and gallium nitride are only one instance. Over the past decade, ST has massively invested and innovated in these new supplies to assist carmakers make the subsequent era electrical automobiles probably the most engaging and apparent selection, in addition to to enhance effectivity in power-hungry industrial purposes. Transferring computing and AI from the Cloud into IoT units is one other key monitor.
It’s a win-win technique mitigating the information deluge amid the digital transformation, with end-users benefiting from low-latency, low-power IoT units. Past the IoT market, this paradigm shift is at present redefining the frontiers of healthcare, shifting conventional medical-certified units exterior of the lab into discrete wearable medical home equipment, resembling moveable ECG monitoring units. As a pacesetter in sensing and radiofrequency options, ST repeatedly releases superior merchandise to allow good manufacturing, prioritizing folks’s security at work whereas rising the business general efficiency.
ELE Occasions: How does ST plan to drive its environment-related agenda for a sustainable society?
ST: We introduced finish of 2020 our intention to develop into carbon impartial by 2027. This consists of all direct emissions, but in addition oblique ones from the power we use, and all transportation emissions. In 2021, our greenhouse fuel emissions dropped by 34% in comparison with 2018 in absolute phrases—a feat contemplating the corporate elevated its manufacturing capacities throughout this era.
To succeed in carbon neutrality, ST faucets into renewable energies with a mix of on-site photo voltaic and wind energy installations in addition to long-term agreements with renewable energy suppliers. Final yr, we’ve made large efforts to improve our Bouskoura meeting and testing website in Morocco. The location now sources 50% of its power from renewable sources in comparison with 1% final yr. Moreover, semiconductor wafers are manufactured in cleanroom amenities, the place secure temperatures and humidity ranges are required. To reduce the carbon footprint of our Singapore-based largest “fab”, ST is investing $370 million in a district cooling system that may distribute chilled water by means of pipes to chill down the ability, changing lots of of energy-intensive air con techniques. This undertaking ought to assist save 120,000 tons of carbon emissions yearly. On the manufacturing facet, one other problem is water. In 2021, ST diminished its water consumption by 16% per unit of manufacturing in comparison with final yr.
“In 2021, our greenhouse fuel emissions dropped by 34% in comparison with 2018—a feat contemplating the corporate elevated its manufacturing capacities throughout this era.”
ELE Occasions: What are ST’s key areas for workers’ initiatives? Please describe the influence of a few of your applications?
ST: Along with its net-zero goal, ST creates a office that displays the world’s wealthy variety. As a worldwide firm working in additional than 35 international locations, we provide a various working setting with 115 nationalities working collectively as one workforce. In 2021, 83% of our workers stated that they’d advocate ST as an amazing place to work.
The semiconductor has an extended historical past of being an business with principally males. In 2021, girls represented 34% of our international workforce. Whereas most tech corporations rent round 25% of ladies, there’s nonetheless work to be completed on this space. However change takes time. To fast-track fairness and inclusion and empower the communities by which we function, ST launched the “STEM your approach” program in 2003. Sharing with younger folks —particularly younger ladies—our ardour for science and electronics, ST consultants ship greater than 300 STEM classes yearly. Up to now, greater than 70,000 younger folks benefited from this program.
ELE Occasions: As we wrap up, are you able to inform us about your journey round sustainability?
ST: ST has a devoted sustainability workforce. Even when Human Sources (HR) aren’t immediately accountable, I nonetheless play a central position in implementing sustainable practices. At ST, sustainability is not only a undertaking, it’s a approach of life. With greater than 25 years of expertise in HR and Company Social Accountability, I’ve spent most of my profession making an attempt to guard the well being and security of staff, and construct work environments the place variety is embraced, inspired, and celebrated. I firmly consider that efficient communication is vital to create a collective mindset round sustainability. From high administration to manufacturing line staff, I repeatedly have interaction with ST workers and different stakeholders all through this course of to verify we’re all shifting in the identical course and on the identical tempo. Whereas a social dimension to sustainability is now nicely established, I’m nonetheless studying each single day, consistently adapting ST’s technique and reporting practices to new realities and alternatives.
ST works with all of you—workers, prospects, subcontractors, communities, and governments— to develop applied sciences, in a sustainable approach. At ST, our sustainable applied sciences begin with you. Let’s speed up sustainability collectively.
For extra data go online to: https://www.st.com/content material/st_com/en/about/sustainability.html
