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Top view of grid pattern on the bottom of a body of water. The water is so clean, it's easily visible.

Reducing,
reusing
and recycling
water

Our water
is
what
brought back
the otters

Our efforts in
every drop

279,000 tons of water form a day supplied to produce semiconductors. But then, do we let all this water just go to waste? Check out Samsung’s constant efforts to save, reuse and recycle precious water now!

Reduce, reuse
Top view of part of Samsung's water management site. Close-up of water droplets attached to a sink faucet, about to fall. Top view of body of water that gradually gets deeper toward the right side.
and recycle

Reduce, Reuse
Top view of part of Samsung's water management site. Close-up of water droplets attached to a sink faucet, about to fall.
and recycle
Top view of body of water that gradually gets deeper toward the right side.

Under water in a crystal clear ocean.

Water management is an important part of what we do at Samsung. It’s both the start of workplace environmental safety
and essential to creating new products.

Our strict water management was behind the miracle of Osan Stream, and we were also the first in the industry to earn Water Footprint certification. That’s why we are developing more extensive water management operations, especially as the scope and importance of corporate responsibility continues to expand.

Samsung follows
the three Rs,

consuming less water Reduce
then using it
again Reuse
and reprocessing it.Recycle

Our goal is
becoming a reality.

Illustration of clear cube with blue water inside. Next to it is a recycling symbol, demonstrating the 35 percent water reuse rate in 2020.
119,421 thousand tons

Total Water Reuse Amount in 2023

Reduce, reuse
and recycle.
Our work
continues.

  • At Samsung,
    we work
    with
    water resource
    specialists.

    Person seen from the front, wearing a lab coat and safety goggles and gloves looking into a microscope.

    Our water specialists and the 3Rs

    We specialize in water reduction and managing how we use water. Together with water quality experts, we operate over 30 technical training programs for our employees.

    This has resulted in our Hwaseong site in Korea reducing the average daily water use by 3,844 million tons in 2020, surpassing our 2% reduction target.

  • The first in
    the industry
    to achieve
    Water Footprint
    certification

    In 2023, Samsung Semiconductor operations at the Hwaseong site in South Korea achieved the highest AWS certification level. In 2024, the semiconductor operations at the Giheung·Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek sites in South Korea, as well as the Xi'an site in China, attained the same top-level AWS certification.

    Alliance for Water Stewardship Commitment

    Samsung Semiconductor will continue to work toward meeting
    AWS’s(Alliance for Water Stewardship)
    Standards to improve site water performance.
    • Improved
      water
      governance
    • Sustainable
      water balance
    • Good water
      quality
    • Healthy status
      of important
      water-related
      areas
    • Access to
      water,
      sanitation and
      hygiene(WASH)
      for all
    1. 1Samsung Semiconductor will Gather and understand water-related data in terms of geopolitical risks, community demand, challenges, and opportunities.
    2. 2Samsung Semiconductor will commit to water stewardship and create a water stewardship strategy accordingly.
    3. 3Samsung Semiconductor will implement established water stewardship plans.
    4. 4Samsung Semiconductor will continue to evaluate the performance of the plans it has committed to.
    5. 5Samsung Semiconductor will communicate and disclose progress with stakeholders.

    Dooguen Song
    Corporate EVP, Head of EHS
    Center (Global Manufacturing &
    Infra Technology)
    Samsung Electronics

    AWS Commitment and
    Maintenance Officers

    Name Department Responsibilities
    Liz Lim Environment
    conservation group    		 Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification
    Jongnam Lee (John)
    Taewoan Koo Water withdrawal, Discharge water quality, Governance
    Donghwan Kim Aquatic ecosystem
    Jungwon Lee Water withdrawal, Discharge water quality, Governance
    JongHun Kim Pyeongtaek EHS Team Environment Group Pyeongtaek Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification Lead
    Kyoungjin Heo Pyeongtaek water withdrawal, governance, aquatic ecosystem
    Youngdeok Jeong Pyeongtaek water discharge quality
    Sungwon Heo Cheonan EHS Team
    Cheonan Disaster Prevention and Environment Group     		Cheonan/Onyang Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification Lead
    Youngpil Kang Cheonan water withdrawal, governance, aquatic ecosystem, water discharge quality
    Heesook Lee Onyang EHS Team
    Onyang Disaster Prevention and Environment Group     		Onyang water withdrawal, governance, aquatic ecosystem, water discharge quality
    JuSeop Yeom Corporate Sustainability Management Office(DS) Stakeholders, Water quality

  • How were
    we behind
    the miracle of
    Osan Stream?

    Flood control channel seen moving water from one section to the other.

    Water management helped
    bring back the otters

    Osan Stream is a body of water that runs 15 kilometers through Gyeonggi Province in Korea and carries water discharged by Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing plant in Giheung. Previously, animals struggled to live near Osan Stream because of the odor caused by a lack of water.

    To increase the amount of water in the stream, we partnered with environmental groups to release a maximum of 45,000 tons of purified water from the Giheung site each day every summer. This water was such high quality, we were able to create a clean environment for the otters to raise their families. But how did Giheung’s wastewater bring back the otters?

    Samsung’s safe and strict
    water management let us give
    Osan Stream back to the otters.

    We have worked to reduce water use throughout the entire chip manufacturing process, as well as purify
    and reuse water as much as possible. To increase the water reuse rate, at each site we classify the water into four categories: sewage, wastewater, industrial water and ultra-pure water. Then each site reports how they reused the water through our Global Environment, Health & Safety System (G-EHS system) every month.

    In addition, with the installation of underground water pollution prevention facilities at each site, we prevent contamination and ensure wastewater is safely handled through internal and external treatment facilities.
    Before water is released into the stream, we monitor it to make sure it’s up to our standards — which go beyond the required legal standard — then measure the water quality in real time using the Tele-Monitoring System (TMS) and send this data to the government.

  • Samsung Semiconductor's Water Flow Diagram
    for Efficient Water Resource Management

    DS Division Water Resource Flow Chart1)(2023) (unit: thousand tonnes)

    1) Based on global manufacturing site annual cumulative usage

    The DS Division, to increase our manufacturing process water reuse rate, classify our water resources into sewage, wastewater, process water, and ultra-pure water and manage them by entering reuse rates per category per site in our environment management system on a monthly basis.

    We prevent contamination with site-installed groundwater contamination prevention facilities and safely treat effluents via on and off-site treatment facilities. We apply legal and rigorous internal management standards when directly releasing effluents to stream via on-site treatment facilities.

  • Samsung strives to reduce
    the volume
    of hazardous
    chemical
    substances
    each year.

    • Use rate comparison
      of hazardous chemicals

      (Unit: tons/year)

      • Year

      • Giheung

      • Hwaseong

      • Pyeongtaek

      • Cheonan

      • 2020

      • 109,014

      • 402,974

      • 293,842

      • 4,923

      • 2023

      • 104,449

      • 397,668

      • 478,140

      • 7,821

    Reducing hazardous chemical substances

    Our sites are continuously improving our manufacturing processes and researching alternative chemicals
    to use in wastewater treatment. In particular, we are developing non-hazardous treatments to replace
    and reduce the volume of hazardous chemical substances further each year.

    Illustration of barrel and warning side, showing an 18% reduction in use of hazardous chemicals from 2018 to 2020 at Samsung's Giheung and Hwaseong sites.

    We closely oversee and analyze the discharge, transport and use of hazardous chemical substances. The Ministry of Environment (MoE) also actively participates in chemical emissions surveys and investigations. Through their results, we can analyze any fluctuations in hazardous chemical use.

    We are also working on minimizing use by optimizing the efficiency of the process.

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