Section Nine
INDUSTRIAL WASTES -
ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY WASTES
89    WASTE ELIMINATION AT MEMC ELECTRONIC
MATERIALS, INC.
Paul S. Dickens, Senior Environmental Engineer
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29304
The 1980s changed forever the management of manufacturing industries. Companies that did not
improve product quality lost market share. Companies that did not streamline product development
lost market position. Companies that did not reduce product inventory and increase product yield
were not able to compete on price.
The 1990s hold similar dramatic change. A growing requirement for competitive survival of manufacturing industries is the proactive management of toxic chemicals and hazardous waste. It is no
longer sufficient to merely comply with environmental laws. Companies that eliminate chemical waste
and associated management cost obtain a market advantage. These companies are no longer hostage
to changing environmental laws and public perception that their manufacturing plants are "dirty".
These companies can devote capital to new products and improved quality rather than end-of-pipe
pollution controls. The successful companies in the 1990s will be those that win the race to implement
"clean" manufacturing technology.
This paper describes successful efforts by MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. to eliminate chemical
emissions and hazardous waste by changing manufacturing technology.
WASTE ELIMINATION AND CHEMICAL USE
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 19761 (RCRA) established a hierarchy of waste
management. Source reduction is the preferred waste management practice followed in order of
preference by on-site waste recycling, off-site waste recycling, waste treatment, and land disposal. The
1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments2 (HSWA) established new requirements that eliminate
land disposal as an option for most chemical waste. Regulations under HSWA substantially increase
the cost of managing hazardous waste.
Title III of the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) requires public
reporting of chemical use, chemical emissions, and hazardous waste generation by manufacturing
industries.3 The Community Right-To-Know provisions of SARA, more than any other environmental regulation, are driving industry to eliminate toxic chemical use. The electronics industry is a large
user of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the
Ozone Layer* requires the phase out of CFC manufacture and use. The proposed Declaration of
Londons will end worldwide production of CFCs by the year 2000. Meanwhile, the cost of these
chemicals has greatly increased.
There are significant regulatory and public relation incentives for industry to change manufacturing
technology to eliminate chemical emissions and hazardous waste. Such changes can yield an economic
benefit by eliminating process chemical and waste management costs.6 However, little technical
information is available on waste elimination techniques.
MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (MEMC) manufactures polished and epitaxial silicon wafers.
Silicon wafers are the substrate, or base, on which microelectronic circuits (microchips) are built.
MEMC is a worldwide producer of silicon with manufacturing plants in the United States, Europe,
45th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, © 1991 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
Printed in U.S.A.
775