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Since venturing into the realm of corporate social responsibility, Wafer Works has dedicated over a decade to this cause. In order to continually drive sustainable development, the Company, through its Sustainable Development Committee, closely monitors both domestic and international sustainability trends. We aim to integrate sustainability goals into three key areas: corporate governance, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility. This approach is intended to deepen stakeholders' understanding of the Company and foster trust in our endeavors.

 

Sustainable development is built upon operational resilience; only enterprises with robust foundations can continually advance environmental and social well-being. The year 2023 was a year of rapid change. The semiconductor industry was immediately impacted by the downturn in the overall economy. Global inflationary pressures, coupled with the industry chain's active consumption of excessive inventory, have dealt a blow to the recovery of end-market consumption, further slowing down the pace of inventory destocking. In such a challenging environment, Wafer Works continued to develop various niche products, actively promoted key markets, and steadily progressed during the economic downturn, achieving an annual consolidated revenue of NT$10.048 billion and a net profit after tax of NT$1.108 billion. The Company also received recognition from various non-financial indicators. In addition to bagging the Outstanding Enterprise Award from the National Brand Yushan Award and the Bronze Award from the Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards (TSAA), Wafer Works was named as one of the Taiwan's Top 100 Sustainability Exemplary Enterprises by the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards (TCSA), acknowledging the Company's efforts in sustainable development.

 

Electrification has become a trend across all sectors, ranging from consumer electronics to largescale applications like electric vehicles, public transportation, and industrial equipment, all striving for high efficiency and low energy consumption. Wafer Works aspires to leverage its technical expertise to make a difference in the world. Through collaboration with customers in research and development, we aim to apply our products to low-energy consumption applications, helping users boost energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and promote environmental friendliness. In 2023, nearly 40% of our products were used in relevant discrete component applications, with over 80% of these deployed in the automotive sector, contributing to a greener lifestyle from a product perspective.

 

Internally, we conduct troubleshooting to identify energy consumption and pollution hotspots in the manufacturing process. We take energy-saving measures for high-consumption manufacturing equipment and implement water and waste oil sludge recovery during production. Our company has set strict targets, achieving the recovery of over 80,000 tonnes of water from the process in 2023. Additionally, over 80% of waste sludge generated from the wafer grinding and polishing process was recycled, and the reuse rate of process waste reached 86%. The total energy saved in 2023 amounted to 2,084,990 kWh, with a reduction of 1032.07t CO2e emissions.

 

The upcoming Erlin new plant embodies the concept of environmentally friendly and green building.The building is designed to minimize waste generation during the construction process. Energy-efficient glass is selected for the exterior walls and shading system to effectively guide natural light. High-power, energy-saving lighting fixtures are used indoors to achieve energy savings. In addition, ecological multilayer planting designs are implemented in the surrounding area to isolate road noise and enhance greenery. Water-saving sanitary ware is chosen, and a rainwater harvesting system is installed to effectively utilize water resources.

 

Wafer Works is committed to providing all employees with a safe, comfortable environment conducive to personal growth, emphasizing workplace safety and peace of mind. Through employee training courses and weekly plant inspections, we have significantly raised employees' awareness of occupational safety. Our efforts also include advocating for physical health, work-life balance, and in-plant balanced diets through the occupational health nurse, actively seeking workplace health certifications. In terms of communication channels with employees, our company organizes orientation sessions for new hires, regular labor-management meetings, and annual employee satisfaction surveys. We also provide an employee complaint mailbox to maintain equal and healthy labor relations. In our efforts to cultivate sustainable talent, we have developed a training roadmap and progressively strengthened on-the-job education programs. We promote prevention of workplace misconduct, and offer specialized courses on various topics such as ethical management, protection of trade secrets, and middle and senior management leadership skills. Our goal is to enhance the depth and breadth of internal training programs, enabling employees of different departments and ranks to simultaneously enhance their skills. Externally, Wafer Works fulfills corporate social responsibility by actively supporting employees' participation in charity activities, promoting social care, and encouraging blood donation and community involvement to harness collective efforts for environmental and social value creation. We also organize outreach programs for vulnerable groups and donate supplies, contributing to society through tangible actions.

 

The year 2024 will still be a year filled with variables and challenges. In the face of intense global industry competition and threats, Wafer Works remains committed to its core goal of being a "customer-centric semiconductor materials supplier." With a focus on both group development and corporate responsibility, we will advance the development of semiconductor chip technologies beneficial to the green energy industry. This effort aims to support the mutual prosperity of the semiconductor industry chain and environmental sustainability. We are also dedicated to achieving the 2050 net-zero target, diligently pursuing sustainable development goals and contributing our efforts to create a cleaner and brighter future.