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For decades, Texas Instruments has been committed to reducing its environmental impact, setting goals such as improving production efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and achieving them one by one.
These actions have yielded significant results. Texas Instruments’ “2022 Corporate Citizenship Report” shows that since 2015, we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 23%, and the energy used to manufacture each integrated circuit has decreased by 28%. Each year, we save millions of gallons of water through environmental projects and recycle 90% of our waste.
Recently, Heidi Means, Vice President of Global Environment, Safety, and Health at Texas Instruments, detailed the company’s long history of environmental responsibility and the measures taken to reduce environmental impact as part of its sustainability strategy.
Q1
Why is environmental sustainability important to Texas Instruments?
Heidi Means: One of our ideals is to build Texas Instruments into a company we can be proud of and hope to live next to. Trustworthiness is one of our values, which means being honest and doing the right thing while operating the company in a socially responsible manner. Practicing environmental sustainability is one way Texas Instruments puts its values and ideals into practice, and it is something we take pride in.
As a global company that produces billions of chips each year, Texas Instruments has a responsibility to society and operates in an environmentally friendly manner. We hope to protect the environment while conducting business, as well as the health and safety of our employees, customers, and the communities in which we work and live.
Q2
What are Texas Instruments’ key focuses in reducing environmental impact?
Heidi: The ideals of Texas Instruments guide how we operate the company and ensure that we think environmentally while making continuous improvement a cornerstone of our operations.
For decades, Texas Instruments has been pursuing a more sustainable future. Therefore, we continuously take measures to reduce our environmental impact, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These gases absorb heat in the environment, leading to global warming. Last year, Texas Instruments implemented hundreds of projects company-wide to reduce energy consumption, as well as material and water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, we continue to invest in new technology development and innovation to reduce the environmental impact of production. For example, from 2018 to 2022, our energy-saving projects are estimated to save 320 gigawatt-hours of energy annually, roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of 30,000 average American households1.
Looking ahead, while expanding production capacity, we will continue our long-standing path of sustainability, further reducing energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and waste landfill.
Q3
Where do Texas Instruments’ greenhouse gas emissions come from? What measures have we taken to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions?
Heidi: To answer this question, it is essential to understand that Texas Instruments’ strategy is to invest in its own capacity—wafer fabrication plants and packaging test facilities—rather than relying solely on external suppliers. As we increase our capacity and output, owning our manufacturing allows us to better control environmental sustainability metrics, especially regarding Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
One key focus during manufacturing is the Scope 1 emissions generated from gases and chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing. Over the years, we have emphasized using alternative gases and chemicals with lower global warming potential, introducing advanced equipment and technology, and installing emission reduction devices at departmental equipment to handle waste gases generated during semiconductor manufacturing, thereby reducing such emissions.
Another source of greenhouse gas emissions is the electricity we use to maintain the operation of our factories and other facilities, which falls under Scope 2 emissions. We will continue to adopt electricity generated from renewable energy and take measures to optimize our manufacturing, transportation, and product distribution operations.
In the long term, we are members of several industry alliances dedicated to supporting research for future sustainable innovations, including in chemistry and technology, as well as emission reduction initiatives.
Q4
As Texas Instruments continues to increase manufacturing capacity, how does it make new factories more sustainable?
Heidi: In the design and equipping of new factories and offices, we strive to ensure efficiency and sustainability, aiming to achieve certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a widely recognized green building rating system globally.
For example, the RFAB in Richardson, Texas, is the world’s first green semiconductor manufacturing plant to receive LEED Gold certification. Nearly a decade later, RFAB2 became Texas Instruments’ fourth and latest manufacturing facility to receive LEED certification. It is also the first in the U.S. and the fourth globally to receive the LEED Gold certification version 4.0. This certification is a more stringent certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the sustainable design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. RFAB2 is expected to save 750 million gallons of drinking water and nearly 80 million kilowatt-hours of energy annually. Additionally, the construction materials for the plant are sourced responsibly, and the design and construction aim for a healthy working environment.
Q5
In 2022, Texas Instruments used more renewable energy than ever before. What are Texas Instruments’ plans for using renewable energy in the future?
Heidi: Over the past few years, we have gradually increased our use of renewable energy and committed to further increasing our usage in the future to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example, in 2022, Texas Instruments enabled 47 megawatts of solar power in its operations in North Texas, and in 2023, we added another 18 megawatts of wind power. Additionally, we have enabled rooftop solar systems in our office in Bangalore, India, to meet part of our electricity needs. When considering opportunities for using renewable electricity, we take into account factors such as location, investment requirements, scale, and timing.
Q6
Besides the measures taken to improve sustainability, how do the semiconductor devices designed and manufactured by Texas Instruments contribute to environmental improvement?
Heidi: From air conditioners, washing machines, and dryers to data centers, Texas Instruments’ products have the opportunity to significantly reduce energy consumption in almost every application. Semiconductors are driving the future of energy in new ways, and our customers are also continuously innovating to enhance sustainability. For example, our products enable unprecedented range for the next generation of electric vehicles and allow solar and energy storage systems to intelligently manage energy supply from the grid to consumers.
We also help businesses leverage Texas Instruments’ technology to create a more sustainable energy ecosystem, capturing, converting, and distributing energy more efficiently and effectively, thereby accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Excitingly, our semiconductor products play a critical role in various ways and will increasingly play an important role in reducing environmental impact.
1 See “How Much Electricity Does an Average American Household Use?” September 13, 2023 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
