SK Hynix Inc., the world's second-largest memory chip producer, announced on Tuesday that it has established a medium- to long-term plan to utilize recycled and renewable materials in manufacturing, the first of its kind in the global semiconductor industry.
The medium- to long-term roadmap includes a goal to increase the proportion of recycled materials used in SK Hynix's chip products, based on weight, to 25% by 2025 and over 30% by 2030.
To achieve this, the company will transition certain essential materials used in semiconductor production, such as copper, tin, gold, and other metals to recycled materials.
SK Hynix explained that metal materials, which constitute a significant portion of the weight of finished memory semiconductors and are difficult to replace with other materials, have the greatest impact on resource circulation when recycled.
Plastic packaging materials used to protect semiconductor products will be replaced with recycled plastics.
The company has strengthened the certification process and quality evaluation for recycled materials it directly purchases.
It has also established a system for reviewing the application of quality evaluations to components supplied by partner companies, enhancing the system to achieve the roadmap goals.
SK Hynix plans to communicate and support collaboration with suppliers to participate in the verification and certification of the usage rate of recycled materials by credible external organizations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).