Samsung Electronics today announced that it has had the carbon reduction impact of AI Energy Mode¹ in its select washing machines verified by the Carbon Trust Assurance, based on the Decarbonizing the Use-Phase of Connected Devices (DUCD) specification. This marks the first time that a product or feature has been validated using the DUCD specification. It is especially significant as it demonstrates the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction effect achieved through the AI Energy Mode during the use phase, verified by a third party.

“At Samsung, we continue to design our products and services with environmental factors in mind,” said Jeong Seung Moon, Executive Vice President and Head of the R&D Team for Digital Appliances (DA) Business at Samsung Electronics. “AI Energy Mode is a key example of such efforts, and with this verification recognizing its effectiveness, we will strive to further improve our products, features and services during their actual use.”

Samsung’s Longstanding Efforts

Samsung has long worked to establish objective and systematic indicators to assess and manage carbon emissions generated from home appliances. As part of these efforts, the company joined the DUCD initiative as a Secretariat member in September 2022.

The DUCD initiative is led by the Carbon Trust, a global climate consultancy, which partners with businesses, governments and financial institutions to drive positive climate action. Through collaboration with other industry leaders, it aims to standardize how energy use and savings from connected devices are measured and contribute to building global methodologies for calculating the carbon savings of Wi-Fi–connected devices.

In November 2024, the initiative published a global specification establishing unified measurement criteria and reduction methodologies for connected devices. This approach measures the reduction in carbon emissions that occur during the consumer’s actual usage phase, distinguishing it from the measurement or reduction of carbon emissions during the production process conventionally used.

Verified Carbon Reduction With AI Energy Mode

Using this guidance, the Carbon Trust’s independent assurance arm, the Carbon Trust Assurance Ltd, tested a pilot assessment on Samsung’s global washing machine lineup.² It verified the reduction effect of AI Energy Mode by comparing the amount of carbon emitted between July 2024 and June 2025 when using the AI Energy Mode with the amount emitted when not using this mode.

For Samsung’s select energy-efficient washing machines, the total energy consumption using the SmartThings Platform³ has been verified at 12.28 GWh during this time period,⁴ resulting in 5,266 tCO₂e, by Carbon Trust Assurance Ltd according to the DUCD Part 1: Specification and Guidance. The verified total energy savings of 5.02 GWh in energy consumption, and 2,084 tCO₂e in GHG emissions savings can be attributed to switched-on AI Energy Mode.⁵

This level of energy savings corresponds to the amount of electricity that approximately 169,000 households can use in a single day, given that an average U.S. residential electric-utility customer purchases about 29.54 kWh of energy daily.⁶

Meanwhile, the company will participate in the upcoming CES 2026, where it will showcase both its energy-saving solutions and innovative new products.

1. Must activate AI Energy Mode via SmartThings Energy on the SmartThings app, available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required. ︎
2. A list of all applicable washing machine models and a lifecycle product carbon footprints can be found at https://www.samsung.com/global/sustainability/digital-library/policy-document/. ︎
3. The verification is based on Samsung washing machines with the highest energy efficiency grade or equivalent in their respective countries where applicable, such as (but not limited to) Energy Star (U.S.), Grade 1 (Korea), and A (EU). ︎
4. The verification is based on Samsung washing that have been connected to AI Energy Mode at least once during the period from July 2024 to June 2025 globally. ︎
5. AI Energy Mode switched on versus AI Energy Mode switched off across all active devices globally during the same time period (July 2024-June 2025) ︎
6. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)) ︎

Samsung Electronics today announced that, in collaboration with the Carbon Trust and other major tech companies, it has launched a new methodology for measuring the emissions and reductions linked to the use-phase of internet-connected electronic devices.

The launch of this methodology is part of Samsung’s participation in the Decarbonizing the Use-Phase of Connected Devices (DUCD) initiative, through which the company has teamed up with the Carbon Trust, Amazon, Microsoft and Sky to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from use-phase electricity consumption of internet-connected electrical and electronic products.

These organizations are focusing on the use-phase in particular because it is typically the largest source of product’s carbon emissions throughout its entire lifetime. Globally, connected devices currently require approximately 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy annually — similar to France’s total energy use. Therefore, understanding and accounting for products’ carbon impact and finding ways to drive down emissions while devices are being used is a priority for the tech industry.

This new methodology sets out how companies can assess and report emissions using data drawn from devices that are being used by their customers, enhancing the accuracy of reporting that has until now relied upon lifetime forecasts used in current emissions accounting. Tech firms will also be able to account for emissions reductions that have been achieved in the process of using the methodology.

The annual reporting of use-phase emissions and reporting of emissions reductions will lead to increased transparency in communication to consumers, incentivizing companies to make reductions while products are still being used. The standardization and accuracy of the data will also guide companies to identify innovative solutions to further reduce the carbon impact of their devices.

Samsung’s contributions to launching the new DUCD methodology are a continuation of the company’s commitment to finding new ways to save energy. This type of innovation is exemplified by SmartThings Energy, which empowers users to track their energy usage and make better energy decisions, as well as AI Energy Mode, which considers usage patterns and electricity rates to help users better manage energy usage.

“The use-phase emissions make up the lion’s share of our products’ carbon emissions across their lifecycle, and measuring is key to managing and reducing emissions,” said Inhee Chung, Vice President of the Corporate Sustainability Center at Samsung Electronics. “At Samsung, engaging and empowering consumers through our energy saving solutions is a key element of our climate strategy, and we look forward to applying the DUCD methodology to demonstrate how our SmartThings platform and its AI Energy Mode enable consumers to monitor and reduce the energy use of their connected devices.”

“Connected devices are becoming increasingly relevant in everyday life and so it was important to bring key players in the technology industry together to start to address use-phase emissions now. This collaboration has produced a significantly improved approach for the calculation and reporting of carbon emissions and reductions achieved from connected devices and lays the foundation for further efforts to address emissions in this challenging area.” said Felix Prettejohn, Senior Consultant at the Carbon Trust.

About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy driven by the mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future. We have been climate pioneers for over 20 years, partnering with businesses, governments and financial institutions to drive positive climate action. From strategic planning and target setting to activation and communication – we turn ambition into impact. To date, our 400 experts have helped set 200+ science-based targets and guided 3,000+ organisations and cities across five continents on their route to Net Zero.

Samsung Electronics today announced that 10 models among 3 product groups from DA Business have obtained ‘Product Carbon Footprint’ certification from the Carbon Trust. The certificate proves that the Carbon Trust measured and confirmed the carbon emissions of the products based on the global standard, PAS 2050:2011.

“Receiving the Product Carbon Footprint certification for our home appliances is a significant milestone,” said Jeong Seung Moon, EVP and Head of R&D Team of Digital Appliances Business at Samsung Electronics.

The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy that aims to accelerate the move to a decarbonized future. The organization, which was founded in the UK and operates globally, certifies products’ carbon footprints in accordance with international standards.

Samsung products were certified based on the cradle-to-grave footprint, which take into account the entire greenhouse gas emissions of a product, from the extraction of raw materials to manufacturing, distribution, use and final disposal.

The certification is issued to a total of 10 models, which include three BMF refrigerator models¹ and one WindFree residential air conditioner model² sold in Europe, and six Bespoke Grande washing machine models³ sold in Korea.

Moving forward, Samsung Electronics plans to use the measured figures to manage and evaluate the carbon emissions from producing successor models in the stated product groups.

¹ RB38A7CGTS9/EF, RB38A7CGTS9/EU, RL38A7CGTS9/EG
² AR12CXCAAWKNEU
³ WF25CB8895BV, WF25CB8895BG, WF25CB8895BF, WF25CB8895BB, WF25CB8895BE, WF25CB8895BW

“It’s rewarding to see Samsung’s sustainability mission recognized by a trusted organization, as we remain committed to creating products with the future of our planet top of mind,” said Seokwoo Yong, Executive Vice President and Deputy Head of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “As the world’s largest TV manufacturer, we recognize our responsibility to lead by example and will continue to leverage technology to drive positive change.”

The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy founded by the UK government with the mission to respond to climate change and reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). The organization calculates its carbon footprint certification by evaluating the amount of GHG generated¹ throughout the entire product lifecycle, ranging from production to disposal, based on internationally recognized standards. Notably, the label does not take CO2 offsets into consideration.

The 2023 Neo QLED models obtained the certification in recognition of Samsung’s efforts to reduce the products’ weight and their power consumption during the use phase when compared to their predecessors. The six certified models include three Neo QLED 8K and three Neo QLED 4K screens.² As Samsung aims to expand the scope of these efforts, it expects to earn carbon footprint certification for more than 20 models this year across its latest lineup of QLED, Crystal UHD and OLED TVs, as well as monitors and signage products.

In 2021, Samsung Neo QLED became the first screen to receive the certification among 4K and higher resolution TVs. The following year, 16 models across Samsung’s 2022 lineup, including 11 models from the QLED, Crystal UHD and Lifestyle TV range, as well as five monitors and signage products, also obtained the certification.

As the global TV leader for the 17th consecutive year, Samsung’s Visual Display Business continues to introduce eco-conscious products and practices for its display products.

For more information on Samsung’s 2023 TV lineup, please visit www.samsung.com.

¹ The Carbon Trust launched “Carbon Footprint Label” certificate program since 2007.
² Neo QLED 8K (75QN900C, 75QN800C, 75QN700C), Neo QLED 4K (75QN95C, 75QN90C, 75QN85C)

LCA is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of commercial products, processes, or services, by quantifying the amount of energy, materials and waste discharge. In detail, on its semiconductors’ carbon footprint, Samsung’s LCA covers raw material extraction to chip manufacturing, assembling and testing. Its results are in accordance with ISO 14040, ISO 14044 and ISO 14067 to ensure credibility and transparency.

The carbon footprint is commonly used by Samsung and its customers to recognize the environmental impact across all phases of Samsung’s semiconductor products and can be used as a metric to track and reduce carbon emissions.

“Since 2019, we have been actively mobilizing efforts to measure and reduce the carbon emissions of our key memory and logic solutions,” said Dooguen Song, Executive Vice President of the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Center at Samsung Electronics. “By leveraging LCA, we will be able to support our customers to achieve their carbon neutrality, as well as becoming more transparent on the environmental impact of the semiconductors we produce worldwide.”

“As a global expert in energy and environmental certification, DNV is pleased to have partnered with and to congratulate Samsung on successfully establishing its reliable LCA,” said JangSup Lee, CEO of DNV Business Assurance Korea. “Together with global business leaders like Samsung, we will continue to take part in creating a more sustainable environment in the future.”

Since 2019, 37 of Samsung’s semiconductor products received carbon footprint accreditation from the Carbon Trust and UL, 6 of its memory products certified for carbon reduction from Carbon Trust. Samsung’s eco-conscious product portfolio includes DRAM, SSD, embedded storage, mobile SoC, mobile Image Sensor, automotive LED packages.

Leveraging its LCA established at the end of last year, Samsung will quantify the carbon footprints of chips manufactured across all of its global manufacturing, testing and assembly locations in Korea, China and the U.S.

With sustainability at its core, Samsung will expand its LCA to include water and resource footprints to provide a more comprehensive assessment that will ultimately reduce the environmental impact of various applications such as mobile and wearables, data centers, consumer electronics, automotive, communications and more.

As part of Samsung’s “Together for Tomorrow” vision, the company has applied recycled materials in its select monitor and digital signage products to minimize resource waste. Samsung is now using more recycled materials in its monitor and digital signage products, including the rear cover of its monitors and digital signage to increase resource circularity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Digital signage solutions including the 2022 Smart Signage also received certified energy efficiency grades that rise to new industry standards. Samsung also has incorporated eco-conscious packaging featuring recycled materials in all signage products since 2021.

To improve both resource and energy efficiency, Samsung is using a SoC (System on Chip) solution that, when applied to the monitors and signage, allows content to be displayed without any additional devices, saving both waste and energy. Plus, Samsung has extended its product lifespan with enhanced durability to further minimize waste.

In recognition of its efforts for product efficiency, Samsung has earned an ENERGY STAR certification,¹ in addition to an EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) certification for its energy efficiency improvements and recycled plastic use in its 2022 Smart Signage lineup (QHB, QMB, QBB).

Samsung was also the first in its industry to achieve the reducing CO2 label, certified by the Carbon Trust, for its LCD Signage lineup (LH55QHB), LED signage (LH012IWA) and Business Monitor (LS34A65). In addition, Samsung has developed and applied a new material, made with repurposed ocean-bound plastics, to the 2022 high resolution monitor S8 to reduce marine waste.

In recognition of its global 2022 sustainability initiative, which strives to incorporate environmental sustainability into everything it does, Samsung has been announced as the winner of ‘Sustainability Innovation of the Year’ at the AV News Awards on May 10.

“We are committed to ensuring everyday sustainability throughout our signage portfolio and playing a major role in reimagining a better planet,” said Hyesung Ha, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “As we are grateful for the recognition of our efforts, we plan to make each step count while we collectively change production practices for a sustainable future.”

The Samsung booth at 2022 Integrated Systems Europe is located at Gran Via, Hall 3, 3F600, in Barcelona from May 10-14, 2022. For more information about Samsung’s latest display technology, please visit https://displaysolutions.samsung.com/showcase/virtual-experience/ise-2022.

¹ ENERGY STAR certification applicable only to U.S. market

Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading TV manufacturer for 16 consecutive years, announced that its 2022 Neo QLEDs earned the ‘Reducing CO2’ certification from the Carbon Trust in recognition of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy driven by the mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future. The ‘Reducing CO2’ certification signifies that a product’s carbon footprint is reducing year-on-year. It evaluates the amount of GHG (Greenhouse Gas) generated throughout the entire product lifecycle using internationally recognized standards.¹

This year, 11 models across Samsung’s 2022 TV lineup, including three Neo QLED 8K models, three Neo QLED 4K models, two QLED models, two Lifestyle TV models and one Crystal UHD TV model, obtained the certification by reducing the weight of the product and the power consumption during the use phase.

Samsung has long been committed to not only driving product innovation but also shaping and implementing environmental sustainability technologies. During Samsung’s keynote event at CES 2022, Jong-Hee (JH) Han, Vice Chairman, CEO and Head of Samsung Electronic’s Device eXperience (DX) Division, unveiled the company’s vision of “Together for Tomorrow”, highlighting Samsung’s commitment to creating a sustainable future and driving collaboration as part of the global community to preserve our planet.

As part of the initiative, Samsung’s Visual Display Business is set to use around 30 times more recycled plastics to produce its display products than it did in 2021. Samsung also revealed its plan to expand the use of recycled materials in all of their mobile and home appliance products by 2025.

In addition, Samsung has been adopting various sustainable practices to minimize the environmental impacts throughout its products’ lifecycles. The company’s ‘Eco-Packaging’ program — which allows consumers to upcycle the packaging for TV products into versatile pieces of furniture — has been upgraded this year with product packaging using 90% less ink while also removing the staples during production.

Samsung has also expanded the SolarCell Remote, which eliminates battery waste with built-in solar panels, to all TV models in 2022. Additionally, Samsung has developed and applied a new material, made with repurposed ocean-bound plastics, to a 2022 high resolution monitor S8 to reduce marine waste and minimize the environmental footprint.

“As the market leader for 16 consecutive years, Samsung is not only focused on the technological advancements, but innovations around human-centric technology and the environment,” said Seokwoo Yong, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D Team, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to implement various sustainability initiatives and eco-conscious activities in line with its ‘Going Green’ vision.”

¹ Internationally recognized standards such as PAS 2050, GHG Product Standard or ISO 14067

“It is exciting to see our environmentally sustainable efforts receiving global acknowledgements,” said Seong-dai Jang, Senior Vice President and Head of DS Corporate Sustainability Management Office at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue our path towards a sustainable future with ‘greener’ chips enabled by Samsung’s cutting-edge technology.”

Five Memory Products Achieve the Carbon Trust ‘Reducing CO2’ Certification

Five Samsung memory products – HBM2E (8GB), GDDR6 (8Gb), UFS 3.1 (512GB), Portable SSD T7 (1TB), microSD EVO Select (128GB) – recently earned ‘Reducing CO2’ labels from the Carbon Trust. The previous versions of the five products had received the ‘CO2 Measured’ certification from the Carbon Trust last year. The Carbon Trust recently also certified the product carbon footprints of 20 memory products¹ by giving them the ‘CO2 Measured’ product carbon footprint label.

The Carbon Trust is an independent and expert partner of organizations that advises businesses on their opportunities in a sustainable, low-carbon world. The Carbon Trust also certifies the environmental footprint of organizations, supply chains and products.

The Reducing CO2 label certifies that a product’s carbon emission has decreased. Samsung was able to cut the carbon emission of the five memory products through enhanced production efficiency. This means that less electricity and raw materials were used per chip. For the Portable SSD T7 (1TB), Samsung used environmentally sustainable paper instead of plastic as packaging material to minimize the carbon footprint of the product.

Samsung estimates that the volume of carbon emissions reduced from the five products, after their release until July 2021, amounts to approximately 680,000 metric tons of CO2, which is equivalent to 11.3 million urban tree seedlings grown for ten years or the greenhouse gas emitted from 149,000 cars driven for one year.

Before a product can be certified for carbon reduction, its current carbon footprint must be validated in order to set the starting line for measuring carbon footprint changes. The CO2 Measured label verifies the current carbon emission of the product with a globally recognized specification (PAS 2050). Thus, the 20 Samsung memory products with the CO2 Measured label has now set the benchmark for future carbon reduction.

“We have certified five of Samsung’s memory chip products with the CO2 Reducing label, and are pleased to bring on board 20 more products with the CO2 Measured label,” said Hugh Jones, Managing Director at the Carbon Trust Advisory. “We hope that Samsung’s efforts could spread out to the entire semiconductor industry, so that the industry can continue its journey towards a more sustainable future.”

Carbon Footprint of C-series 3W Automotive LEDs Verified by UL

Four C-series 3W Automotive LED packages manufactured by Samsung – Gen3 (third generation) 3W White, Gen3 3W Amber, Gen2 (second generation) 3W White and Gen2 3W Amber – received verification of their carbon footprint to ISO 14064-3 by UL.

UL, the global safety science leader, provides testing, inspection and certification, advisory and risk management services, decision-making tools, training and business intelligence offerings to help customers based in more than 100 countries solve critical business challenges, achieve sustainability goals and prepare for future opportunities.

Since Samsung’s C-series 3W Automotive LED packages are energy efficient products that draw less power but produces more light output, they reduce carbon emissions of cars by improving energy efficiency and ensure longer driving range for electric vehicles in a single charge.

“UL congratulates Samsung for pursuing carbon footprint verification for their four C-series 3W Automotive LED packages, which will help automotive manufacturers select products with transparent, verified information about their environmental footprint,” said Doug Lockard, Vice President and General Manager of UL’s Retail and Consumer Products group. “By understanding the carbon impact of products, manufacturers like Samsung can work to reduce those impacts and improve the environmental performance of products over time.”

¹ SODIMM (8GB/16GB), LPDDR5 (8GB/12GB/16GB), RDIMM (16GB/32GB), 980 PRO SSD (250GB/500GB/1TB/2TB), HBM2E (16GB), GDDR6 (16Gb), UFS 3.1 (128GB/256GB), microSD EVO Select (64GB/256GB/512GB), Portable SSD T7 (500GB/2TB)

Having received the semiconductor industry’s first carbon footprint accreditation for memory chips from the Carbon Trust in 2019, Samsung has now broadened its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) spectrum with this global recognition of ‘eco-friendly’ logic chips. Samsung also grabbed the industry’s first triple Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon, Water and Waste in June 2021.

The Carbon Trust is an independent and expert partner of organizations around the world that advises businesses on their opportunities in a sustainable, low carbon world. The Carbon Trust also measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organizations, supply chains and products.

Of the various certification categories of the Carbon Trust, Samsung’s System LSI products received the CO2 Measured product carbon footprint label. The label certifies the chip’s carbon footprint, which informs consumers of the impact that the product and its manufacturing process have on the environment.

Receiving the CO2 Measured label is a critical first step for carbon reduction, since it verifies the current carbon emissions of the product with globally recognized specifications (PAS 2050), which Samsung can use as a benchmark to measure future carbon reductions.

Correctly measuring the carbon footprint of a product requires extensive effort and time. It involves calculating the amount of carbon emitted from fabricating raw subsidiary materials and transporting the product, as well as the carbon emission from using electricity, water, and gas. The hundreds of fabrication processes needed to make a semiconductor chip add to the complication.

“We’re pleased to have worked with Samsung on this step in its sustainability journey,” said Hugh Jones, managing director at the Carbon Trust Advisory. “The Carbon Trust’s Carbon Measured certification is a clear and credible indicator for consumers that the carbon footprint of these products have been independently verified, as well as a baseline for Samsung to compare against as they work towards reducing their emissions in the future.”

The four products to receive certification include a variety of Samsung’s System LSI chips, from mobile processors to image sensors. The Exynos 2100, one of the four products to receive certification, is a high-performance mobile processor built with the most advanced 5-nanometer (nm) extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node. The 0.7-micrometer (μm)-pixel image sensor ISOCELL HM2, DTV SoC (S6HD820), and TCON (S6TST21) also received certification by the Carbon Trust.

Including the four chips, Samsung has so far received certifications for fourteen of its semiconductor products from the Carbon Trust.

“We are thrilled to be globally acknowledged for our eco-friendly efforts,” said Seong-dai Jang, senior vice president and head of DS Corporate Sustainability Management Office at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to fulfill our carbon reduction goals and expand our efforts to a wider range of eco-friendly, high-performance products to meet the global standards for a sustainable future.”

Exynos 2100

Based on 5nm EUV process technology, the Exynos 2100 is Samsung’s first 5G-integrated flagship mobile processor for premium mobile devices. The Exynos 2100 performs up to 26-trillion-operations-per-second (TOPS) with more than twice the power efficiency than the previous generation.

ISOCELL HM2

The ISOCELL HM2 is a 0.7μm-pixel image sensor that opened up the market for ultra-high resolutions. The 108MP sensor is around 15 percent smaller than the 0.8μm-based predecessors, and reduces the height of the camera module by 10 percent, while featuring faster autofocus, nine-pixel binning and 3x lossless zoom.

DTV SoC (S6HD820)

Samsung’s DTV SoC (S6HD820) is an essential component in television as picture quality evolves from 4K to 8K standard. The DTV SoC’s NPU (neural processing unit) allows AI technology to improve picture quality and audio processing.

TCON (S6TST21)

A TCON takes video data from the DTV SoC and converts it according to the demands of the DDI (Display Driver IC). The data transmission speed of the TCON is important when it comes to quickly transmitting high-resolution video data to the DDI. Samsung’s TCON (S6TST21) integrates two 8K 60-hertz (Hz) chips to minimize energy loss.

Samsung Newsroom invites you to take a tour of these five Korea-based manufacturing centers in the video below, captured via drone for an amazing birds-eye look at the innovative campuses. Check out the video below to learn more.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced that it received the industry’s first Triple Standard for carbon, water and waste by Carbon Trust.

Samsung was awarded this certification by reducing the amount of carbon emissions, water use, and waste discharge over the past three years at five operations (Giheung, Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Onyang and Cheonan) in Korea and four global manufacturing sites in U.S. and China (Austin, Suzhou, Tianjin and Xi’an). This is a huge feat, considering that it is extremely challenging for semiconductor manufacturing companies to meet all three qualifications at once.

“For decades, Samsung has been striving to incorporate environmental sustainability into every aspect of the semiconductor manufacturing process,” said Seong-dai Jang, senior vice president and head of DS Corporate Sustainability Management Office at Samsung Electronics. “We’ll continue to pursue more environmentally sustainable policies across the entire production and supply chain.”

Samsung has been making various efforts in carbon reduction, water resource conservation and recycling, and has been managing these as important sustainability goals.

Samsung’s Efforts to Reduce Its Environmental Footprint

• Greenhouse Gas: Samsung has been sourcing 100-percent renewable energy for its overseas semiconductor operations in the United States and China since 2019, and the company’s continued efforts to reduce its carbon footprint also includes optimizing gas use for etching and deposition processes, as well as developing new catalysts for its greenhouse gas reduction equipment. Through these endeavors, Samsung was able to cut about 1.3-million tons¹ of carbon emissions in 2020—about 200 million pine trees would be required to absorb the same amount of carbon.²
• Water Management: Samsung has been recycling wastewater generated in the process of producing ultra-pure water for equipment such as wet scrubbers and cooling towers. The company has also reduced water usage utilizing its wastewater filtration technology—known as the ‘membrane process’ —to reuse water and optimize manufacturing processes. Equipment operation efficiency has also increased by consolidating wastewater reclamation and reuse systems. As a result, Samsung was able to reuse about 70 million tons of water in 2020, a 12-percent increase compared to 2018~2019, and reduce more than 10 million tons of water usage,³ which is the same amount used for two-million people per month in a metropolitan area in Korea.⁴
• Waste Discharge: Samsung has significantly reduced wastewater sludge,⁵ which accounts for more than 60-percent of total waste generation, by applying alternative materials and optimizing the amount of materials supplied to particular facilities. In addition, by establishing packaging standards for products brought into the line, the amount of waste from over-packaging has also been reduced. Through all these efforts, Samsung reduced a total of 35,752 tons⁶ of waste discharged in 2020.

Samsung Electronics strives to incorporate environmental sustainability into everything it does. Samsung’s products are thoughtfully designed to minimize the impact on the environment during their entire lifecycle – from planning and manufacturing to consumption and recycling.

¹ The amounts stated are converted measurements based on production levels

² A 30-year-old pine tree can absorb about 6.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year (Korea Institute of Forest Science)

³ The amounts stated are converted measurements based on production levels

⁴ Korea Ministry of Environment (2019)

⁵ Wastewater sludge is a by-product generated in the treatment process of industrial wastewater or sewage.

⁶ The amounts stated are converted measurements based on production levels

Recently, nine key Samsung memory products – four DRAM solutions, three solid state drives (SSDs) and two embedded storage (eStorage) devices* – earned Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) labels from the UK-based Carbon Trust for their significant role in reducing climate impact and helping with the transition to a low-carbon economy. These PCF labels were awarded after a thorough review of each product’s carbon impact, from the raw material extraction stage through production, distribution, use and disposal. The PCF certification also provides a reliable measure of the electricity, water and gas used during memory chip manufacturing.

Contributing to a Sustainable Future

The 512GB uFS 3.1 was recognized with the industry’s first ‘Reducing CO2’ label

In addition to the PCF label, Samsung’s 512GB eUFS 3.1 – the company’s latest smartphone storage memory – was recognized with the industry’s first ‘Reducing CO2’ label for eliminating more carbon emissions than the previous generation, Carbon Trust-certified 512GB eUFS 3.0.

The ‘Portable SSD T7 Touch’ is the first semiconductor product to be recognized as a green (eco-conscious) product by the Korean Ministry of Environment

Samsung’s T7 Touch SSD also received a ‘low carbon product’ certificate from the Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE), making it the first Korean government-certified green semiconductor product in Korea. The low carbon certificate is given to products that achieve a minimum of 3.3 percent carbon reduction over the previously MoE-accredited product generation.

The material used for the T7 Touch SSD’s packaging is made out of eco-friendly pulp

By using one-third less tray packaging, replacing the plastic trays with eco-friendly pulp material and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions throughout its production, the T7 Touch SSD saw a 5.1 percent reduction in its carbon footprint compared to the previous generation product. This translates to an annual savings of approximately 84 tons of carbon – about the same amount of CO2 absorbed by 13,000 30-year-old pine trees in one year.

Comparing the packaging of the T5 SSD (left) and T7 Touch SSD (right)

The new certifications are in addition to Samsung’s Hwaseong Campus in Korea having recently become the industry’s first semiconductor site to earn the Carbon Trust Standard for Water, in recognition of its sustainable water management.

“Through the continuous reduction of our carbon footprint, we are committed to improving environmental sustainability across our semiconductor business operations,” said Chanhoon Park, executive vice president and general manager of Global Infra Technology at Samsung Electronics. “Moving forward, we will strive not only to achieve greater competitiveness with our semiconductor technologies, but also ongoing leadership in sustainable environmental efforts.”

* DRAM products: SODIMM 8GB; HBM2 8GB; LPDDR5 12GB; GDDR5 8GB
SSDs: PM1733 U.2 15.36TB; 860 EVO 500GB; SSD T7 Touch 1TB
eStorage solutions: EVO Plus microSD card 128GB; eUFS 3.1 512GB

The Carbon Trust is a globally accredited non-profit certification body established by the British government to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. Each certification by the Carbon Trust was made after a thorough assessment of the environmental impact of carbon emissions and water usage before and throughout the production cycle, based on international standards*.

“We are extremely pleased that our cutting-edge memory technologies not only demonstrate our capability to overcome more challenging process complexities, but also are recognized for their environmental sustainability,” said Chanhoon Park, executive vice president and head of Giheung Hwaseong Pyeongtaek Complex at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to create memory solutions that provide the highest levels of speed, capacity and power efficiency at extremely small geometries for end-users worldwide.”

Samsung’s Semiconductor Innovations Enable Sustainable Production

Based on the company’s fifth-generation (90+ layers) V-NAND, Samsung’s 512GB eUFS 3.0 provides optimal speed, power efficiency and productivity to deliver twice the capacity and 2.1 times the sequential speed of its fourth generation (64 layers) V-NAND-based 256GB eUFS 2.1, while requiring 30 percent less operating voltage. Additionally, Samsung’s fifth-generation V-NAND utilizes a unique etching technology that pierces more than 90 cell layers in a single precise step. This allows the chip to have nearly 1.5 times more stacked layers than the previous generation and accommodate a 25-percent reduction in chip size. Such innovations help to minimize the overall increase in carbon and water footprints for each V-NAND cell layer.

Samsung is also being awarded Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) labels for its ‘1-terabyte (TB) eUFS 2.1’ and its ‘fifth-generation 512-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND’ by the Korean Ministry of Environment at today’s ceremony.

Samsung plans to actively expand the adoption of its highly sustainable, high-capacity premium memory solutions into many more flagship smartphones and further strengthen global partnerships for its next-generation memory technologies.

*PAS 2050 for carbon footprint and ISO 14046 for water footprint

[Reference] Samsung 512GB eUFS 3.0 environmental footprint (Carbon Trust)

*13.4 kg CO₂ is comparable to the amount that is absorbed by two 30-year-old pine trees in a year   

[Reference] Samsung semiconductor solutions with environmental certifications

Samsung Electronics has received one of the most prestigious awards for environmental sustainability in recognition of its reduction of the carbon footprint of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones.

On October 8, Samsung won the Best in Product Carbon Footprint Prize at the Carbon Trust Standard and Label Bearers Conference and Awards 2015, held by Carbon Trust of the United Kingdom.

Carbon Trust’s performance awards have been presented annually for four years, recognizing companies and products that have shown outstanding results in carbon reduction. The win by Samsung is a first for the consumer electronics industry, the result of a reduction in carbon emissions of the Galaxy S smartphones.

Samsung began working with the Carbon Trust in 2012, pledging to certify the carbon footprint of all models within its flagship Galaxy smartphone range. The Galaxy S2 was the first to be certified in 2012, and all Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphones up to, including the Galaxy S5, have also been certified. The carbon emission level of the Galaxy S5 has been reduced by 37 percent compared to the Galaxy S2.

Throughout each product’s life cycle, from product development to disposal, Samsung Electronics analyzes carbon emissions at each stage and makes efforts to reduce the environmental footprints of its products.

Wouter van Tol, European Head of Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability at Samsung Electronics said, “As the world’s leading manufacturer of smartphones, we have a responsibility to minimize our environmental footprint. Being recognized for substantially reducing greenhouse emissions across our flagship range of Galaxy smartphones is a great honor. This is thanks to our PlanetFirst approach, where we consider the environmental impact of everything we manufacture, right from the start. We are committed to an on-going program of lowering our impact on the environment, and look forward to making even further progress in this area in the future.”