IN SUMMARY
Semiconductors are foundational to almost every modern technology, from smartphones and data centres to electric vehicles and renewable energy systems, and the global industry is valued at around $500 billion a year. But making chips is highly energy- and resource-intensive, relying on ultra-pure silicon and a range of critical materials sourced from concentrated, often geopolitically sensitive supply chains. As demand surges, manufacturers face mounting regulatory, environmental and commercial pressure to prove their sustainability. This guide, part of Minviro's "Path to Product" series, walks through the materials behind chips, how they are made, the levers for cutting impact, the circular opportunities, and what emerging regulation like the EU's ESPR will require, all through the lens of life cycle assessment.
Silicon and critical dopants drive the footprint. Chips are built on ultra-pure silicon (better than 99.999999999%) plus materials like gallium, germanium, tantalum, indium, arsenic and copper, most sourced as byproducts from concentrated supply chains, with silicon's energy-intensive purification a key hotspot.
Manufacturing is energy- and chemical-intensive. Processes like photolithography and etching, and the fluorinated gases used in cleanrooms, add significantly to the carbon footprint, with emissions varying by energy source and process.
Renewables and better refining can cut emissions up to 50%. Minviro's LCAs show that renewable electricity and improved refining can reduce photovoltaic module emissions by up to 50%, with similar logic applying across silicon and chip production.