Developer of Top Tasks research method. Author of World Wide Waste: How digital is killing the planet and what to do about it.
Making "clean" chips for the "Green" Transition is a very dirty, toxic business The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed in February 2024 that nine PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," be categorized as hazardous to human health. https://lnkd.in/e3wuzNyj Along with 400 other chemicals, PFAS are widely used in semiconductor manufacturing, in factory infrastructures such as refrigerants and structural materials, and equipment, such as chemical containers, tubes and lubricants. In actual production, PFASs are used during the lithography phase-incising the silicon basis of the chip with the relevant geometrical shapes, and for etching, an operation that removes unnecessary parts with chemical agents. https://lnkd.in/eD7RPNPu In Taiwan, the world’s top chip producer, the contamination of rivers with PFAS and other dangerous chemicals has been documented since 2009. The contamination occurred via wastewaters and concerned PFOS and PFOA, two of the most hazardous kinds of ‘forever chemicals’. PFAS: chips’ poisonous ingredient that doesn’t go away, Luca Bertuzzi, EURACTIV, 2022 https://lnkd.in/eD7RPNPu Banning forever chemicals would ensure that Europe’s plan to be a semiconductor manufacturing hub would be “fundamentally undermined as such a ban would decisively weaken the competitive position of the EU relative to competitors without similar restrictions,” said a lobbying group, SEMI. A "a comprehensive derogation" from the impending Act is being demanded. Chemicals ban could derail EU’s chips ambitions, lobbies warn, Pieter Haeck, Leonie Cater, Politico, 2023 https://lnkd.in/eMYe73yA On the “Explainer” website of SEMI, a lobby group promoting forever chemical use for semiconductor manufacturing, there is a large image of a field with a beautiful green sprouting plant. The website states: “SEMI makes no warranties or representation to the accuracy or usefulness of the information contained on this webpage. Accuracy is solely the responsibility of the user.” PFAS Explainer, SEMI https://lnkd.in/ekTF3qjg