Samsung Electronics gets highest-level certification from AWS

South Korea's electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. has achieved the highest level of "Platinum" certification from the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) for the first time in Korea.

AWS is a water management certification body established by international organizations such as the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which assesses companies on their comprehensive water resource management systems.

AWS certification is divided into three levels from Platinum, the highest grade, to Gold and Core, depending on the evaluation outcomes of a total of 100 items. These include stable water management, water pollutant management, water hygiene, impact on aquatic ecosystems in the basins and governance system building.

In 2020, Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong campus was granted the "water usage reduction" certification by the UK's Carbon Trust. With the acquisition of the AWS certification, Samsung has been awarded the world's two premier certifications measuring water resource management capabilities for the first time in the industry. The company plans to encourage the acquisition of AWS certification in other chip-making business sites at home and abroad.

Samsung Electronics' goal is to use more than 400,000 tons of recycled sewage water per day by 2030 through water conservation projects. This will have the effect of building a new dam at a capacity of about 150 million tons per year.

Previously, in September last year, the company announced a new environmental management strategy including "zero growth in water intake," and in November of the same year, it signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and local governments to promote the recycling of sewage treatment water.

Adrian Sym, CEO of the Alliance for Water Stewardship, praised Samsung Electronics' semiconductor plants for their excellent water resource management system and said they would serve as an example for many Korean companies to actively manage water resources in the future.

Song Doo-kun, head of Samsung Electronics DS Division's EHS Center, attributed the latest AWS certification to the company's relentless efforts to manage water resources through communication and cooperation with stakeholders. He added that the company would continue to strengthen cooperation with the government, local communities, and related industries in water resource management activities.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com