CLEVELAND — A lot goes into making Intel’s factories run, but water is one of the most important ingredients. The company said it uses about 16 billion gallons of water each year globally. As semiconductor technology continues to advance, the company said more water will need to be used.
“The semiconductor process, it’s not unique to Intel. It requires a lot of high-quality water that we treat and use what’s called ultra-pure water. I mean, the chips, we cannot have the tiniest bit of impurity on them. It’s really critical,” said Fawn Bergen, manager of corporate sustainability for Intel. “We’re growing, but also that complexity and manufacturing requires more water and energy. And so that’s that’s a big part of why sustainability is so integrated in our growth.”
Bergen said the tech giant has some big sustainability goals. The company wants to run off 100% renewable energy across their global manufacturing operations by 2030, reach a zero waste to landfill goal globally by 2030 and be net positive for water by 2030. She said they work hard to conserve and reuse water wherever possible.
“Something simple, like low flow faucets in our restrooms, to kind of a larger scale,” Bergen said. “Conservation is also where we reuse water on site.”
Intel’s operations in the United States, Costa Rica and India are officially net positive on water use. That means in those countries, Intel restores and returns more freshwater than it takes in and the company’s new Ohio site will be no different.
“Our ultimate goal is to reduce the impact on our watersheds, which is typically the withdrawal of freshwater. So our goal on site is to reuse or reduce the amount of water overall which allows us to reduce the amount of freshwater that comes in,” Bergen said.
Intel’s Ohio site could initially use around five million gallons of water per day and Bergen said they’ll get their water from the city of Columbus. She said an on-site water treatment plant will ensure any water leaving the Intel site meets all local requirements.
“And it will go through the city’s process as well,” Bergen said. “So they absolutely regulate all of that.”
On top of being net positive for water, she said they also have plans to fund water restoration projects in the area. Bergen said Intel has funded about 40 projects so far around the world.
She said they’re committed to being a positive part of their communities and reducing their environmental footprint is one way they do that.
“We want our community to say it’s good to have Intel here,” Bergen said.
For more information about Intel coming to Ohio, click here.
