Semi-conductors in Philippines

The production process of semi-conductors includes the stages of wafer design, wafer fabrication, assembly and product testing. The first two are capital intensive and occur in mainly in industrialized countries; the latter two stages are labor intensive and are shifted to offshore production units, mainly in developing countries. The semi-conductor industry is truly global and the world demand for semi-conductors is booming. Environmental problems associated with the semiconductor chain are concentrated in the production stage (process emissions) and in the waste disposal stage.

The pressures for environmental change in the semi-conductor industry mainly come from two sources: the government and consumer groups. Government pressures include policies regarding emissions, hazardous materials, and waste disposal. In addition, many governments of consumer countries are legislating or considering legislating other standards and requirements. Consumer groups in the North clamor for more environmentally friendly electronics production. These pressures are being exerted mainly on the producers located in the industrialized markets. However, Philippine producers will eventually feel this pressure. It is in the interest of these mother companies to help Philippine companies to meet global standards. Hence, environmental improvement in this chain is too a large extent a supply management issue.

An additional impact of compulsory environmental standards for Philippine firms is that they can act as a deterrent to the entry of new firms. The most advanced segment of the Philippine semiconductor industry could therefore be expected to pressure the Philippine government to tighten up domestic environmental standards.

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