Applied Materials Charts Progress Towards ESG Goals

Applied Materials, Inc. announced the publication of its latest Sustainability Report, detailing its ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives and results over the past year. The report highlights the impact of the company’s ESG efforts within its own organization, with its suppliers and customers and on the global electronics ecosystem.

“Applied Materials is at the forefront of semiconductor technologies that play an ever-increasing role in our lives,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO of Applied Materials. “As we bring transformative new innovations to market, we are working closely with our suppliers and customers to minimize our environmental impact by reducing our products’ resource consumption and carbon emissions. We are also continuing our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion at Applied where everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute and grow in their careers.”

Driven by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and a sharp increase in the number of smart, connected devices, the market for semiconductors is projected to approximately double and reach $1 trillion over the next decade. It is imperative for the chip manufacturing ecosystem to work collaboratively to decouple this expected growth from the industry’s carbon emissions.

In 2022, Applied continued to make progress in reducing its carbon footprint, achieving 100-percent renewable electricity use in the U.S. and 69 percent globally, resulting in a 3-percent reduction from its 2019 baseline in the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions – those produced directly by the company and by the energy it purchases.

During the same period, Applied’s energy consumption rose by approximately 13 percent, which demonstrates the company’s progress in decoupling emissions growth from business growth. Recognizing the need to redouble its efforts in the future, Applied submitted science-based reduction targets for its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions – those generated across the entire value chain – to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and the company set a new goal to reduce its Scope 3 – Category 11 (use of sold products) emissions per wafer across new semiconductor products by 55 percent by 2030 (from its 2019 baseline).

To help drive global demand for renewable electricity across the industry and expedite the transition to a low-carbon future, Applied is collaborating with key customers and engaging in industry coalitions. Applied is a founding member and governing council member of the Semiconductor Climate Consortium as well as a member of imec’s Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS) Program, the RE100 and the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance (CEBA).

At the core of Applied’s commitment to build a culture of inclusion is the belief that having a workforce representing different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences is essential to delivering world-class innovations. Over the past year, Applied took steps to instill diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) best practices across the company, made progress towards its DEI goals, and set new 2030 targets to further increase the representation of women globally and underrepresented minorities (URM) in its U.S. workforce.

Applied Materials has been reporting on social responsibility and environmental matters since 2005. The company’s latest Sustainability Report and Annex reflect activities and results through the end of fiscal year 2022.