Inside GF's decarbonization journey
By Joseph Chia - Vice President & General Manager of 300mm fab in Singapore, GlobalFoundries, Dec. 04, 2025 –
Every semiconductor chip begins its life in a fab. While chips are essential for powering today’s digital age and enabling advancements in AI, their production consumes significant amounts of energy and generates greenhouse gases (GHG) as a by-product.
As we work toward our Journey to Zero Carbon goals, GF remains committed to environmentally responsible manufacturing and operations, continually taking action to reduce and manage our greenhouse gas emissions.
With a mix of innovation, smart engineering and bold improvements, our teams seek to decarbonize semiconductor manufacturing to further reduce GF’s carbon footprint and deliver on our sustainability commitments to our customers.
We are currently scaling-up the full deployment of a central abatement system at our 300-mm fabrication plant in Singapore. Targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2026, this initiative is expected to significantly reduce emissions, enhance resource efficiency and optimize manufacturing processes.
Rethinking abatement
Unlike conventional point-of-use abatement systems that collect and treat exhaust gases from each wafer fabrication tool, multiple tools are connected to a single centralized abatement system that treats exhaust gases in bulk through a multi-stage process.
Here’s how it works:
- First, exhaust gases pass through a pre-scrubber where water and an electrostatic precipitator remove acid gases and particles.
- The gases are then heated and treated in a catalytic unit which breaks down fluorinated greenhouse gases into water-soluble by-products.
- Finally, the by-products go through a post-scrubber for cleaning before being safely vented and the resulting wastewater is sent for further treatment.
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