| dc.description.abstract | Hundreds of high purity organic and inorganic compounds are involved in the complicated and delicate manufacturing of semiconductor. Because these waste solvents are incinerated at very high temperature, secondary pollutants from incineration are harmful to human life and environment. With the growing concerns on environmental protection and sustainable development, the issue of sustainability has become an important issue of the semiconductor industry. However, there are not many researches addressing how wastes in the semiconductor manufacturing are managed. Hence, this study aims to investigate how the semiconductor companies in the United States handle their waste management in their manufacturing processes. According to the EPA Toxics Release Inventory data, the frequently-used chemicals during the semiconductor production include Hydrogen Fluoride, Nitric Acid, Nitrate Compounds, Ammonia, N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone, Hydrochloric Acid and Sulfuric Acid. Cluster analysis was applied on the data of these chemicals to classify the approaches of waste management among the U.S. semiconductor companies. This study also ranked the waste management of the semiconductor companies based on the findings of the cluster analysis. The result of this study can assist us to understand the trends of chemical waste management in the semiconductor industry and identify the best-performing companies for the related companies to benchmark. | en_US |