Response to Climate Change

Waste Water / Chemical Management

Waste Water / Chemical Discharge

APEX seeks to optimize processes to minimize raw material use and waste production, protecting the environment while reducing costs at the same time. APEX has a designated unit that periodically reviews raw materials reduction performance. Internally, we optimize our process recipe for raw material usage, which not only could reduce production cost but also reduce the generation of pollutants and wastes. Externally, we require our process tool suppliers to review and minimize the chemical usage step by step.

Apex has focused on reducing waste and recycling. The current chemical waste generated from the manufacturing process and the general waste generated from the operation process can be divided into liquid and solid.

Water Recycling

Since water resources are inherently local, APEX collaborates with the Industrial Estate Administration to discuss raw water allocation and emergency response plans for water shortages. APEX understands that climate change can cause flooding and drought. We took the following actions to respond to water resource risks.

• Identified short-term and long-term water resource risks.。
• Developed and executed short-term and long-term water resource risk mitigation projects such as wastewater recycling.
• Continuing to conserve water consumption in each fab.

Apex obtains the water source from the local water company and the treatment plant in the industrial estate. After being used in each process, the alkaline etching solution, acid etching solution and other processed wastewater are discharged to the temporary storage tank according to different processes.

• After the alkaline etchant is electrolyzed by the RecoCell equipment, the copper in the waste solution is recovered, and the treated alkaline etchant will return to the process for use.
• The acid etchant is processed by a qualified company in the industrial estate. The company uses electrolysis to recover copper in the waste solution, and then sells the acid etchant to customers in need.
• After being filtered by the RO system, about 84% of the wastewater from other processes can be recycled to the original process for reuse. The remaining 16% of the wastewater will be mixed with domestic sewage, and then precipitated and filtered out of the sludge. Finally, it enters the RO system for filtration. The wastewater discharged after filtration accounts for about 5% of the wastewater generated in the original process.

Apex sourced all its water from third-party providers, including the local water company and industrial area treatment plants. The water intake for 2022 was 3,477 million liters, water consumption was 527 million liters, and wastewater generated was 2,781 million liters. In comparison, the water intake for 2021 was 3,560 million liters, water consumption was 570 million liters, and wastewater generated was 2,990 million liters. In 2022, there was a reduction of over 1% in both water consumption and wastewater generation compared to 2021.

Energy Management and GHG Reduction

In 2022, the Apex Solar Project began construction gradually, and some solar equipment has been put into operation. The usage has increased by 3,164.81% compared to the previous year, amounting to 1,445 megawatt-hours. The proportion of energy usage has also increased by 0.5%. The utilization rate of solar power will continue to increase in the future, with a short-term goal of solar energy accounting for 5% of total energy consumption by 2025 and reaching 10% by 2035. Apex is striving to produce clean and renewable energy sources. Reducing energy consumption is also imperative. In 2022, energy usage decreased by 3.55% compared to the previous year. Currently, Apex is implementing the FA Goal project internally, actively improving equipment operation efficiency and reducing energy usage through production equipment planning adjustments and component replacements. With only one Earth, proactive energy management, reduced energy consumption, and lowered carbon emissions are indispensable steps on the path to achieving net zero.

1. FA Goal
   Apex internally implements plans to improve equipment operational efficiency and reduce energy consumption through the planning adjustments of production equipment and the replacement of components. In 2022, the FA Goal aims to achieve energy savings of over 9,000 kWh per day through the improvement of production equipment planning and component utilization.
2. Lean Project
   The implementation of this plan is scheduled from 2022 to 2023. With the guidance of external experts, six measures have been proposed to improve equipment operational efficiency. These measures include: i. Utilizing current optimization technology to reduce power system energy consumption. ii. Addressing the unloading issues of the turbine compressor. iii. Installing high-efficiency vacuum blowers and implementing control systems. iv. Using temperature difference sensors to monitor and control hot water loads. v. Modifying the approach to heating hot water. vi. Implementing high-efficiency cooling systems and monitoring them. Through effective system management and improvement, it is expected to achieve a 10% reduction in energy consumption associated with equipment operation.
3. Solar Project
   Solar Project has invested US$33 million and plans to gradually install solar systems in various factories in Thailand in three phases from 2021 to 2027. It is expected to be completed in 2027, with a total installed capacity of the company's solar photovoltaic system exceeding 21,000 kWh. It is anticipated to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by over 15,000 tonnes, based on the greenhouse gas inventory data for the year 2021. This reduction represents more than 8% compared to the baseline year. In addition to the commitment to sustainability, safety is prioritized in the solar panel installation process. Professional vendors provide guidance and relevant training courses, open for employee participation. Through collaborative efforts in sustainable energy construction, a sense of unity and pride is fostered among the Apex Family.
   Execution Goal:
   
   Solar Installation Plan:
   
   Implementation results:
   From the implementation of the project to October 31, 2023, the installed devices have generated a total of 6,296.18MWp of solar energy, reducing approximately 3,148.03 tons of CO2.The significant equipment investment in green energy-related environmental sustainable solar system in 2023 is approximately 80 million NTD, with a total installed capacity of 5,526 kWh. (Converted at the exchange rate of 0.8953 THB/NTD from January to Decemver 2023)

Apex has recognized the global concern for climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the importance of taking action across all departments to reduce GHG emissions. In 2016, the company established a GHG inventory as a list of targets for emission reduction, using 2019 as the baseline year. The plan is to reduce GHG emissions by 5% per million in revenue generated over the next five years (emissions are from Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions listed in the GHG inventory). By the end of 2022, Apex we have successfully achieved this goal, reducing carbon intensity by 5.36%. The new short-term goal is to reduce GHG emissions by 5% based on 2022 over the next five years.

Apex utilizes the TGO-CFO (Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization - Carbon Footprint) program (equivalent to ISO14064-1:2006) as the reporting standard and has established the GHG inventory. This standard covers reporting CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, and NF3 emissions, collected regionally. If the company has no factories but only offices in a particular region, only the electricity consumed by the local office is collected, and the carbon emission factors are calculated based on the power carbon coefficients published by the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan in 2022, the baseline emission factors published by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China in 2022 for emission reduction projects in southern China, and the emission factors published by TGO-CFO for Thailand. The global warming potential (GWP) values used are based on IPCC AR5. Other indirect GHG issues mainly come from the supply chain, so Apex has conducted Scope 3 GHG inventories in collaboration with suppliers to control Scope 3 GHG emissions and aims to expand the scope of inventory to further control these emissions.

GHG Report 2020-2022 (tCO2e Report/Unit: ton)：

Environment Protection Policy

Environment Protection Policy

• Conform to requirements of environmental laws and regulations
• Improve continuously the prevention of pollutions
• Carry out energy and resource-saving projects
• Implement education and training in environmental protection
• Import “Services for Passing & Exchanging Electronic Documents

Actions

• Adopt the greening project around the factory.
• Donate money to mangrove conservation organizations.
• Tree Planting Program
  Coastal Areas: Assisting in the restoration of mangrove ecosystems.
  Company Surroundings: Actively planting 320 trees and collaborating with other businesses and schools to increase green spaces in industrial areas.