TSMC inaugurates water recycling plant in southern Taiwan

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, inaugurated a water recycling plant in the Tainan section of the Southern Taiwan Science Park on Monday, the first such plant in the world dedicated to producing water for use in advanced semiconductor processes. 

The facility is scheduled to produce 5,000 tons of industrial recycled water a day in October and the daily production is expected to grow to 20,000 tons next year, according to engineering services provider CTCI Co., a contractor involved in the construction of the plant. 

In the science park, TSMC operates two 12-inch giga wafer plants that produce chips made on its advanced 5 nanometer process, which is the most recent technology the chipmaker currently uses for mass production, and 3nm process, which will begin commercial production later this year. 

Arthur Chuang, vice president of the facility division at TSMC, said the water recycling plant took eight years to build and operate as the process to recycle industrial water into clean water for use in the company's advanced processes was very complicated. 

Inside TSMC, Chuang said, the company has already established a water recycling system that allows the chipmaker to use a drop of water 3.5 times. 

TSMC is determined to explore and diversify its water sources in a bid to further raise water use efficiency in the future to facilitate a circular economy, he added. 

According to Chuang, TSMC aims to have recycled water that accounts for 60 percent of its total water use by the end of 2030, which is expected to help reservoirs in Taiwan maintain high water levels and tackle the impact of extreme weather conditions. 

The semiconductor industry is one of the largest water users in the manufacturing sector.