Applied Materials, Inc. has published its latest Sustainability Report, detailing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs and results from the past year. The report charts the company’s progress toward a series of 10-year initiatives, introduced in 2020, that encompass its own operations, how Applied works with customers and suppliers, and how its technology can be used to advance sustainability on a global scale.
Semiconductors have become essential to the world as technology plays an ever-increasing role in peoples’ lives and in enabling discoveries that can help solve global challenges. As the world uses more semiconductors, it is crucial for the industry to continue developing cleaner and more efficient processes for manufacturing chips.
Applied has made progress in reducing its carbon footprint and is taking steps to increase transparency in its environmental reporting. From 2019 to 2021, Applied’s use of renewable electricity increased from 37 per cent to 57 per cent globally. In the U.S., Applied has reached 80 per cent renewable electricity. Applied’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions – those produced directly by the company and by the energy it purchases – were reduced by 28 per cent, even as its overall energy consumption rose by approximately 7 per cent to support new facilities and expanded production.