SK hynix’s ESG Achievements Revealed in Sustainability Report 2023

At a time where it is becoming increasingly important for companies to strengthen their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, SK hynix has been enhancing its ESG standards to achieve sustainable growth. In recent years, the company has made big strides in areas ranging from renewable electricity use to the diversity of its executives. To clearly communicate its ESG performance to stakeholders, SK hynix announced on July 21^st that it has released its annual sustainability report through its official website and DART, an electronic disclosure system.

[Click here to download the report]

The SK hynix Sustainability Report 2023 evaluates and analyzes the company’s ESG management performance in line with the five pillars of its ESG strategy framework PRISM. The report provides an overview of SK hynix’s ESG-related information, including the goals for its mid- to long-term roadmap, its annual targets, and the company’s performance in achieving its 2022 targets.

Regarding goals related to PRISM’s first pillar “P (Pursue a brighter future based on our philosophy)”, the company reduced the integrated incidents rate, which represents the percentage of accidents at industrial sites, by 1.8% in 2022 compared to the previous year. Also, SK hynix recorded the value created from SV social contribution activities of KRW 250.6 billion, vastly exceeding the annual target of KRW 190.3 billion.

For the second pillar “R (Restore the environment to preserve the planet)”, the report contains data on goals related to climate action, water stewardship, and the circular economy¹. Water stewardship plays a key role in the semiconductor industry and SK hynix has been making efforts in this area by expanding water reuse infrastructure and optimizing water use. This has resulted in the company conserving 49.43 million tons of water in 2022, while its cumulative water conservation total since 2021 reached 99.23 million tons. In terms of climate action, SK hynix achieved RE100² with a 100% renewable electricity usage rate at overseas sites. Companywide, SK hynix increased its renewable electricity usage rate from 4% in 2021 to 29.6% in 2022 by actively utilizing the green premium system³. Lastly, SK hynix received the platinum Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL)⁴ validation, the highest level obtainable, by diverting 100% of waste away from landfill for all domestic sites.

¹ Circular economy: A model of production and consumption, where items and products are reused whenever possible rather than discarded.

² Renewable Electricity 100 (RE100): A global initiative for businesses to procure 100% of electricity via renewable electricity.

³ Green premium: The additional cost for a product or service that does not emit greenhouse gases. The green premium helps to measure progress on sustainable technologies and determine which industries and manufacturing processes need to innovate to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

⁴ Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL): A certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) that evaluates a company’s actual waste recycling rate and landfill volume based on its level of resource recycling and the final landfill volume of residuals generated during waste disposal.

In the “I (Innovate our technology for tomorrow)” pillar, SK hynix achieved significant progress in 2022. This included improving scrubber processing⁵ efficiency by 94% domestically and increasing the energy efficiency of its high-performance DRAM HBM by 1.28 times compared to the baseline year of 2020.

⁵ Scrubber processing: The process of treating waste gases generated during the semiconductor manufacturing process.

Meanwhile, in the “S (Synchronize sustainability efforts with our partners)” pillar, SK hynix achieved its annual target for investments in technological cooperation to promote shared growth as the total reached KRW 368.2 billion in 2022, while the cumulative amount stood at KRW 698.6 billion since 2021.

Regarding the final pillar “M (Motivate our people toward excellence)”, SK hynix set goals to increase diversity and develop employees’ skills. Among them, SK hynix made promising progress in female representation as the proportion of female executives reached 2.1% in 2022 from 1.9% in 2021, and the proportion of female team leaders rose to 4.2% from 3.7% over the same period.

▲ SK hynix’s Sustainability Reporting System site

In order to transparently disclose information related to sustainable management, including the company’s ESG activities, SK hynix established the Sustainability Reporting System (SRS) in November 2022. Users can also download the SK hynix Sustainability Report 2023 from the SRS website.

*Note: The reduction rate of the integrated accident rate mentioned in this article for the year 2022 has been updated (as of July 28, 2023) from our initial figure to the final figure submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.