Semiconductors


About Us: Earth friendly product information [Green purchase, RoHS regulation , Lead-free]

Banned chemical substance management

We develop the banned chemical substance management based on green supply chain.
Green supply chain is that Epson purchase environmental conscious materials from vendors who are also environmental conscious.

Purchasing environmental conscious materials from makers who are also environmental conscious.

Using materials that have 2 step approval

Step 1 :Approving green vendor

We approve vendors who perform environmental activities and will continue to keep environmental commitment with us.

We will check that...
Check item1 Are they environmental conscious?
Check item2 Do they keep the commitment that they would not use
banned chemical substances?
Check item3 Do they manage wastes properly?
Procurement division
Step 2 :Approve raw materials

We confirm the report of chemical substances in raw materials that green vendors supply to us. We would approve these materials after knowing they are not harmful.

We will check that...
Check item1 What sort of chemical substances are there and
how much do these contain in a material?
Check item2 Would you report the analysis data for chemical
substances in a material?
Check item3 Can you replace materials if contain banned chemical substances?
Procurement division / Engineering division / Environmental promotion division
Developing earth friendly products
  • Not using banned chemical substances
  • Recycling wastes
  • Reducing discharge of substances that impact global warming
  • Keeping on saving energy
Supplying earth friendly products

* We ask our vendors to cooperate green purchase activity.

Epson environment activity "Green purchase "

Product chemical content control flow

Product chemical content control flow
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Chemical substance response status

Management of chemical substances is one of Epson's major environmental initiatives, and the company is actively undertaking activities in this regard. In particular, Epson has practiced management of certain chemical substances that it independently identified as prohibited from inclusion in products, and it furthermore independently treated PBBs and PBDEs, two of the six substances targeted by the EU's RoHS Directive, as prohibited substances.

Response to the EU's RoHS Directive

In FY1999, Epson commenced an initiative seeking to completely eliminate lead solder, a substance that had been pointed to as a possible environmental pollutant. In addition, to respond to the EU's RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC), the Seiko Epson Group in August 2003 began initiatives to eliminate the six substances targeted in the directive (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBBs (polybrominated biphenyls) and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) from all electric/electronic products it manufactured or sold; these efforts have since reached completion.

Non-use of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs)

Epson does not use ozone-depleting substances in its manufacturing processes. In 1988 Epson declared that it would eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a goal that it reached company-wide in 1992. Furthermore, Epson had completely eliminated three chlorinated organic solvents (trichloroethylene, methylene chloride and tetrachloroethylene) by 1999.

*Epson does not use the ozone-depleting substances listed below in its manufacturing processes.

  1. Substances listed in Montreal Protocol Annexes A, B, E and C-II
    (1) A Group I CFC-11, 12, 113, 114, 115
    (2) A Group II Halon-1211, 1301, 2402
    (3) B Group I CFC-13, 111, 112, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217
    (4) B Group II Carbon tetrachloride
    (5) B Group III 1,1,1-trichloroethane
    (6) C Group II Halon substitutes (HBFCs)
    (7) E Group I Methyl bromide
  2. Substitute fluorocarbons (Montreal Protocol Annex C-I)
    HCFC－21, 22, 31, 121, 122, 123, 124, 131, 132, 133, 141, 141b, 142, 142b, 151, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 225ca, 225cb, 226, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 241, 242, 243, 244, 251, 252, 253, 261, 262, 271

Non-use of major chemical substances with environmental impact

Epson does not use any of the following chemical substances.

  • Asbestos
  • UV absorber 2-(2H-1,2,3-benzotriazole-2-YL)-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol
  • Tetrachloro phthalic anhydride, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (118-74-1)
  • In all packaging: Four kinds of heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium), PVC

Abolished PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid and its salt)

The PFOS (*1) was newly selected as the abolition/restriction target on the POPRC (Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (*3)) of POPs treaty (*2), and it will be specified as the Class I Specified Chemical Substances by the Act on Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc. (*4) in Japan (in April 2010). In semiconductor device manufacturing, the indirect materials (photoresists) used in some manufacturing processes includes the target materials. Although the materials for semiconductor manufacturing applications are currently exempt from the regulations, we switched to using alternatives in our semiconductor manufacturing process (except in some processes carried out by subcontractors) at the end of September 2009, and have totally abolished the use of materials that contain the PFOS.

*1: PFOS: Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid and its salt
*2: POPs treaty: Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
*3: POPRC: Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, a subordinate organ of the Conference of the Parties Convention on POPs treaty
*4: Act on Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc.: The Japanese law concerning the regulation of examination and manufacturing of chemicals

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