100% of the water used in EMC’s Taiwan plants comes from the municipal water supply (tap water). No groundwater is used. The water is mainly used for employees’ daily needs and the plants’ peripheral equipment and cleaning machinery, particularly air conditioning facilities (accounting for 70% of water consumption). All EMC factories are located in industrial areas or industrial parks designated and operated by local governments. Water consumption does not cause significant environmental impact on water resources or the ecological environment of source water areas. The wastewater and sewage produced by EMC are separately discharged via legal pipelines to sewage treatment plants located in the industrial parks. EMC believes that water is one of the Earth’s precious resources, and thus reducing water consumption and improving water usage efficiency are very important tasks. To implement water resource management, EMC has taken various measures for water conservation; for example, building an air conditioning water quality control system and evaluating the monitoring results of air conditioning water quality. With respect to the water used for employees’ daily needs, the Company endeavors to raise awareness of water conservation among employees and has taken measures such as installing water-efficiency devices to reduce water consumption and protect the environment. On the basis of water resource statistics collected over the past 3 years, EMC’s water withdrawal intensity (per NT$ million of revenue) in 2023 was 4.91% lower than that in 2022, and the water consumption intensity in 2023 was 10.01% lower than that in 2022. After strengthening water management and monitoring measures, the water withdrawal intensity in 2024 was 27.01% lower than that in 2023, and the water consumption intensity in 2024 was 24.32% lower than that in 2023, indicating excellent water management effects achieved by the Company.
【EMC’s Water Resource Statistics for the Past 3 Years】
|
Plant/Period |
Taiwan Plants |
Mainland China Plants |
Total |
|||||||
|
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
||
|
1.Tap water |
(megaliters/year) |
264.558 |
211.512 |
222.787 |
548.612 |
614.189 |
716.724 |
813.170 |
825.701 |
939.511 |
|
2. Surface water |
(megaliters/year)) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
3.Groundwater |
(megaliters/year) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Water Withdrawal (1+2+3) |
(megaliters/year) |
264.558 |
211.512 |
222.787 |
548.612 |
614.189 |
716.724 |
813.170 |
825.701 |
939.511 |
|
Water Discharge |
(megaliters/year) |
171.406 |
140.568 |
139.443 |
87.511 |
152.540 |
171.717 |
258.917 |
293.108 |
311.160 |
|
Water Consumption |
(megaliters/year) |
93.152 |
70.944 |
83.344 |
461.101 |
461.649 |
545.007 |
554.253 |
532.593 |
628.351 |
|
Total consolidated revenue (Unit: NT$ million) |
38,672.549 |
41,296.217 |
64,376.727 |
|||||||
|
Water withdrawal intensity per NT$ million 【Total water withdrawal (megaliters/year)/Consolidated revenue (NT$ million)】 |
0.0210 |
0.0200 |
0.0146 |
|||||||
|
Changes in water withdrawal intensity per NT$ million of revenue (Compared with previous year/YoY) |
|
⬇ - 4.91% |
⬇ - 27.01% |
|||||||
|
Overall water consumption intensity per NT$ million 【Total water consumption (megaliters/year)/Consolidated revenue (NT$ million)】 |
0.0143 |
0.0129 |
0.0098 |
|||||||
|
Changes in water consumption intensity per NT$ million of revenue (Compared with previous year/YoY) |
|
⬇ - 10.01% |
⬇ - 24.32% |
|||||||
The individual water sources, discharge receiving water bodies, sewage treatment plants affiliated with EMC’s plants, and their effluent quality standards or acceptance (discharge) standards are listed in the table below:
【Water Source and Effluent/Acceptance Standards】
|
|
Guanyin Plant |
Hsinchu Plant |
Elite Electronic Material (Kunshan) |
Elite Electronic Material (Zhongshan) |
Elite Electronic Material (Huangshi) |
|
|
Water Source |
Tap Water |
Tap Water |
Tap Water |
Tap Water |
Tap Water |
|
|
Discharge Receiving Water Body |
Shulin Creek |
Qiedong River |
Yangtze River |
Shiqi River |
Yangtze River |
|
|
Wastewater Treatment Agency |
Guanyin Industrial Park Sewage Treatment Plant |
Hsinchu (Hukou) Industrial Park Sewage Treatment Plant |
Kunshan Jianbang North District Wastewater Treatment Plant |
Zhenjiashan Wastewater Treatment Plant |
Wangren Town Wastewater Treatment Plant |
|
|
Effluent Standards or Acceptance Standards |
pH |
5~9 |
5~9 |
6.5~9.5 |
6~9 |
6~9 |
|
SS (mg/l） |
480 |
400 |
400 |
400 |
180 |
|
|
COD (mg/l） |
560 |
480 |
500 |
500 |
300 |
|
|
BOD (mg/l） |
400 |
400 |
350 |
300 |
80 |
|
Note：The sources of the effluent standards or acceptance standards are listed as follows：
1. Taiwan plants: The effluent quality limits stipulated in Guanyin Industrial Park's Sewer System Effluent Standards, and the influent quality limits stipulated in Hsinchu Industrial Park's Sewer
2. Mainland China Plants:
l Elite Electronic Material (Kunshan): "Municipal Sewer Systems Influent Quality Standards (GB/T 31962-2015)"
l Elite Electronic Material (Zhongshan): Guangdong Province's local standards for "Water Pollutant Discharge Limits" (DB 44/26-2001) ― Level 3 Standards
l Elite Electronic Material (Huangshi): GB 8978-1996 "General Sewage Discharge Standards" and Wangren Town Wastewater Treatment Plant's influent standards
Air Pollution Control
EMC has taken measures to control and manage the air pollution issues arising from its production, services, and activities, and it follows regulatory requirements to carry out improvements. In 2019, EMC’s Guanyin Plant began to transition the fuel used in its A012 and A016 exhaust gas incinerators from heavy oil to natural gas. Since completing the transition from heavy oil to natural gas in 2023, the exhaust gas incinerators’ destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) have exceeded 95%. Additionally, the Hsinchu County Government permitted the Hsinchu Plant to establish its own VOCs emission factors in 2024. As a result of these measures, the VOCs emissions from the Taiwan plants were reduced. In 2022, NOx emissions increased slightly due to changes in product order patterns. Because Guanyin Plant 2’s VOCs emissions did not reach the regulatory control and monitoring threshold before 2021, its emissions data were not declared. The Company voluntarily implemented the plant’s VOCs emissions declaration starting in 2022.
The air pollutant emissions (NOx + SOx + VOCs + PM) from the Taiwan plants decreased by 8% in 2024 compared to 2023, and by 18% in 2023 compared to 2022. However, the air pollutant emissions from the Mainland China plants were higher in 2024 than they were in 2023, which was attributed to the significant increase in overall production at the Mainland China plants in 2024 compared to 2023; additionally, Jinmao Plant 2’s air pollutant emissions data was integrated into Kunshan Plant’s emissions statistics in 2024, leading to an increase in Kunshan Plant’s air pollutant emissions in 2024 compared to 2023. According to the air pollution statistics from the past 3 years, EMC’s air pollutant emissions intensity per NT$ million of revenue decreased by 33.03% in 2024 compared to 2023, representing a decrease of 46.72% compared to 2022!
【EMC’s Air Pollutant Emissions Statistics (Taiwan Plants + Mainland China Plants)】
|
Plant |
Taiwan Plants |
Mainland China Plants |
Total |
||||||
|
Pollutant Emission Unit (kg) |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
NOx (nitrogen oxides) |
26,390.91 |
15,922.76 |
17,327.00 |
35,955.21 |
37,372.77 |
88,469.12 |
62,346.12 |
53,295.53 |
105,796.12 |
|
SOx (sulfur oxides) |
39,317.45 |
22,981.11 |
23,328.71 |
7,428.12 |
8,008.09 |
17,182.84 |
46,745.57 |
30,989.20 |
40,511.55 |
|
VOCs (volatile organic compounds) |
533,974.86 |
451,134.10 |
409,699.53 |
29,938.03 |
32,529.79 |
36,990.86 |
563,912.89 |
483,663.89 |
446,690.39 |
|
PM (particulate matter) |
3,265.44 |
1,204.71 |
1,249.33 |
2,633.48 |
7,679.00 |
7,922.32 |
5,898.92 |
8,883.71 |
9,171.65 |
|
Total Air Pollutant Emissions (kg) |
602,948.66 |
491,242.68 |
451,604.57 |
75,954.84 |
85,589.65 |
150,565.14 |
678,903.50 |
576,832.33 |
602,169.71 |
|
Air pollutant emissions compared with previous year (YoY) |
|
⬇ -15.03% |
⬆ 4.39% |
||||||
|
Consolidated revenue (Unit: NT$ million) |
38,672.549 |
41,296.217 |
64,376.727 |
||||||
|
Air pollutant emissions intensity per NT$ million of revenue 【Total air pollutant emissions (kg/year)/Consolidated revenue (NT$ million)】 |
17.56 |
13.97 |
9.35 |
||||||
|
Changes in air pollutant emissions intensity per NT$ million of revenue (Compared with previous year/YoY) |
--- |
⬇ -20.43% |
⬇ -33.03% |
||||||
Note：
1. Taiwan plants data source: The Ministry of Environment's air pollution control fees reporting data (including Guanyin Plant and Hsinchu Plant). The emission values of VOCs and other gases were inferred from the amounts of air pollution control fees paid, not direct measurements.
2. Mainland China plants data sources: "Calculation Method for Monthly Air Pollution Monitoring Report" (Elite Electronic Material (Kunshan)), and "Annual Report on Emission Permit Implementation" (including Elite Electronic Material (Zhongshan) and Elite Electronic Material (Huangshi)).
3. Calculation methods adopted by Taiwan plants:
l NOx (nitrogen oxides) calculation: Material consumption*Emission factor <announced by the Ministry of Environment>
l SOx (sulfur oxides) calculation: Material consumption*Emission factor<announced by the Ministry of Environment>*Material sulfur content (%)
l VOCs (volatile organic compounds) calculation: Σ Emissions during process (Material consumption*Emission factor <announced by the Ministry of Environment>)
l PM (particulate matter) calculation: Σ Emissions during process (Material consumption*Emission factor <announced by the Ministry of Environment>)
Waste Management
EMC’s industrial waste includes both general industrial waste and hazardous industrial waste. The management strategies for waste generated by the manufacturing process emphasize “legal removal and disposal” and “waste reduction and reuse.” All waste in the plants is cleared, transported, and disposed of by government-approved waste removal and disposal service providers in compliance with laws and regulations. Any waste that can be recycled and reused is classified by category, and then disposed of by contracted service providers. The Company’s contracted waste removal and disposal service providers were not involved in any legal or agreement violations in 2024, and there were no incidents related to chemical, oil, or fuel leakage. EMC is committed to protecting the environment from significant impacts caused by waste. The manufacturing process, inputs (raw materials and additives), and output are illustrated in the diagram below:
Taking the Taiwan plants as an example, relevant operations concerning the plants’ waste are implemented in accordance with the Industrial Waste Cleanup Plan approved by the competent environmental protection bureaus. Waste is disposed of by government-approved waste removal and disposal service providers. The Company performs regular checks on the routes of the removal and disposal service providers’ vehicles to ensure that the waste arrives at legally designated final disposal sites. As shown in the diagram below, neither the raw materials and additives used in EMC’s manufacturing processes nor the outputs and finished products contain any ozone-depleting substances (ODSs).
【EMC’s Waste Generation and Recycling/Disposal Statistics for the Past 3 Years】
|
Waste disposal methods |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|||
|
General Industrial Waste |
Recyclable |
Reuse (metric ton) |
1,322.62 |
1,003.05 |
725.75 |
|
|
Outsourcing for reuse (metric ton) |
7,123.61 |
7,442.44 |
10,551.54 |
|||
|
Subtotal |
8,446.23 |
8,445.49 |
11,277.29 |
|||
|
Non recyclable |
Incineration treatment (metric ton) |
504.36 |
933.20 |
1,810.76 |
||
|
Physical treatment (metric ton) |
1,823.62 |
771.10 |
666.66 |
|||
|
Landfilling (metric ton) |
- |
- |
32.10 |
|||
|
Solidification treatment (metric ton) |
0.50 |
91.42 |
130.90 |
|||
|
Subtotal |
2,328.48 |
1,795.72 |
2,640.42 |
|||
|
Percentage of recyclable general industrial waste |
78.39% |
82.47% |
81.03% |
|||
|
Hazardous Industrial Waste |
Recyclable |
Reuse (metric ton) |
63.67 |
31.95 |
- |
|
|
Outsourcing for reuse (metric ton) |
4,843.30 |
5,691.97 |
6,751.09 |
|||
|
Subtotal |
4,906.97 |
5,723.92 |
6,751.09 |
|||
|
Non recyclable |
Incineration treatment (metric ton) |
1,409.74 |
1,755.26 |
1,780.37 |
||
|
Physical treatment (metric ton) |
63.91 |
93.49 |
709.91 |
|||
|
Thermal treatment (metric ton) |
626.63 |
484.29 |
189.88 |
|||
|
Stabilization treatment (metric ton) |
75.46 |
- |
- |
|||
|
Cleaning treatment (metric ton) |
501.72 |
- |
- |
|||
|
Subtotal |
2,677.46 |
2,333.04 |
2,680.16 |
|||
|
Percentage of recyclable hazardous industrial waste |
64.70% |
71.04% |
71.58% |
|||
|
Total waste generated |
(metric ton) |
18,359.14 |
18,298.17 |
23,348.96 |
||
|
Consolidated revenue |
(Unit: NT$ million) |
38,672.549 |
41,296.217 |
64,376.727 |
||
|
Overall waste intensity |
(metric ton/NT$ million) |
0.4747 |
0.4431 |
0.3627 |
||
|
Changes in waste intensity per NT$ million of revenue |
( Compared with previous year/YoY) |
--- |
⬇ -6.66% |
⬇ -18.15% |
||
|
Overall recycling rate |
(Total recycled volume/Total waste volume) |
72.73% |
77.44% |
77.21% |
||
Note：
1. The scope of the “waste generated” statistics includes EMC’s Taiwan plants: Guanyin Plant and Hsinchu Plant; and Mainland China plants: Elite Electronic Material (Kunshan), Elite Electronic Material (Zhongshan), and Elite Electronic Material (Huangshi).
2. The 2022 waste statistics of Elite Electronic Material (Zhongshan) contained typographical errors. In response, the plant’s 2022 waste statistics have been confirmed and corrected.
3. Some of the disaster waste from the previous year was assessed as non-recyclable by waste disposal service providers and subsequently outsourced for landfilling.
Environmental Issue Grievance Channels and Compliance with Environmental Regulations
Environmental Issue Grievance Channels：
EMC has established a Stakeholder section on its official website, providing appropriate communication channels for customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, media, and other stakeholders to communicate with the Company. The Company will promptly initiate the established grievance handling process upon the report of any environmental issue. EMC has provided an e-mail address on its website for internal and external stakeholders to report issues. For more information, please visit EMC’s official website and navigate to Contact us → Ethics and Legal Compliance.
Compliance with Environmental Regulations：
EMC will continue to closely monitor changes and developments in various countries’ environmental regulations and update its internal operating and procedural regulations to ensure that all corporate practices comply with regulatory requirements. Moreover, regulatory compliance training courses conducted regularly and incorporated into internal annual training plans to ensure that all aspects of the Company’s operations align with regulatory requirements and fulfill stakeholders’ expectations. Due to a violation of the Waste Disposal Act (the Industrial Waste Cleanup Plan was not updated as required by law, and onsite waste was not classified and stored by category according to onsite waste labels as directed), one of EMC’s Taiwan plants was fined NT$72,000 in 2024. To avoid the occurrence of similar incidents, EMC has established professional waste management specialists within the organization, and requires that subsequent changes related to waste storage and classification (including cross-plant storage and transportation) be managed in accordance with the Company’s EHS Risk Change Management Procedures. Moreover, the plants must apply for the alteration of the Industrial Waste Cleanup Plan in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. The importance of waste storage by category has also been stressed and advocated.
Environmental Investment and Benefits
Costs for pollution prevention and control: (only Taiwan plants’ data is disclosed)
In addition to basic compliance with environmental laws and regulations such as the Waste Disposal Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and Air Pollution Control Act, EMC also allocates funds every year to implement pollution prevention and control measures to protect the environment. The pollution control costs for the Taiwan plants are listed in the table below:
Unit: NT$ thousand
|
Item |
2022年 |
2023年 |
2024 |
|
Remediation cost for soil and groundwater pollution |
178 |
231 |
87 |
|
Cost for stationary air pollution sources |
13,984 |
15,325 |
12,448 |
|
Cost for water pollution prevention and control |
- |
- |
- |
|
Cost for sewage treatment |
2,657 |
3,685 |
2,134 |
|
Cost for waste disposal |
81,597 |
90,200 |
76,179 |
|
Total |
98,416 |
109,441 |
90,847 |
In response to the global green transition trend, EMC is proactively promoting the transition to low-carbon manufacturing at its Mainland China plants. By implementing various management measures, the Company strengthens its overall green and low-carbon awareness, actively promotes energy saving and emission reduction, and moves forward toward cleaner production. The Company also aims to create ecological benefits through green strategies and technologies to gradually implement the low-carbon manufacturing concept and protect the environment while achieving energy and resource efficiency. EMC hopes that its plants will realize the vision of “green factories” to demonstrate the Company’s aspiration for sustainable development. Elite Electronic Material (Kunshan) was certified as a city-level green factory in 2024, and the Huangshi Plant was certified as a national-level green factory in January 2025. For more information about China’s green factories, please visit the Industrial Energy Conservation and Green Development Management Platform .