Beyond Moore’s Law: Micron’s Pursuit of Sustainable Innovation
As industries worldwide face the dual imperatives of innovation and sustainability, companies are grappling with how to address environmental challenges while advancing technological progress. Micron Technology, one of the largest companies fabricating memory and storage solutions, is a company striving to meet this challenge. Micron’s unique approach to achieving its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, championing sustainability, and integrating them into its operations is proof that environmental responsibility can complement technological innovation.
Source: Micron Technology
“Micron is continuously striving to improve and make a positive impact, mindful that our business, operations, and sourcing practices affect our team members, partners, customers, communities, and planet.”
Micron’s efforts are built on a framework that integrates sustainability with business strategy. In 2020, the company announced ambitious ESG goals to achieve significant environmental milestones, including net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Source: Facebook
“Our sustainability goals are integrated into our broader strategy, ensuring that we are innovating responsibly and continuously measuring our impact.”
These goals encompass interim targets such as a 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. This means monitoring and measuring emissions of greenhouse gases directly from Micron’s operations and indirectly from third party suppliers and other sources related to Micron and its operations. In addition, the company is also targeting achieving 100% renewable energy globally, and ensuring 100% water reuse and zero waste to landfill across operations.
Partnerships Driving Sustainability
Achieving impactful sustainability is no small feat. Micron recognizes this and acknowledges that it and it recognizes that achieving sustainability at scale requires collaboration. To this end, the company has formed strategic partnerships with governments, industry players, and startups to accelerate progress across its ESG priorities.
Government Collaborations
In Malaysia, Micron works closely with local authorities to integrate renewable energy into its operations. Through the Corporate Green Power Programme (CGPP), Micron partnered with Solarvest to develop solar farms, marking a significant step toward its renewable energy goals.
Additionally, Micron participates in initiatives like Malaysia’s Green Electricity Tariff (GET) program, which supports the country’s renewable energy transition. Micron’s collaboration and partnership with these bodies doesn’t just selfishly benefit the company, instead the company is making a larger impact by also contributing to national climate action strategies.
Perhaps one of the largest things to take back from these government collaboration is that sustainability cannot be a just a top-down endeavour from governments or municipalities, instead, it requires a huge amount of support from industries and even from grassroots. This also ensures that sustainability isn’t just a short term flash in the pan, but an ever improving, growing and self-sufficient process that will continue well into the future.
Startup Partnerships
It’s not just about collaborating with governments either. Micron readily collaborates with companies, non-governmental organisations and even start ups. In Amarjit Sandhu’s own words, “Micron is not the expert when it comes to [sustainability]. So, we have to collaborate with the experts and let them determine how we can create lasting impact”.
Micron’s collaborations collaboration aren’t just beneficial when it comes to sustainability, in fact, some efforts even benefit its own operations. Take for example, Micron’s collaboration with Aqua Membranes. This partnership with an innovative start up has yielded dual benefits of sustainability and efficiency. By adopting Aqua Membranes’ printed spacer technology for reverse osmosis systems, Micron has achieved a 20% reduction in energy consumption during water treatment. These partnerships are part of Micron Ventures, an initiative designed to support early-stage companies focused on breakthrough technologies.
Source: Facebook
“Startups bring fresh perspectives and specialized expertise. Collaborating with them helps us accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions that align with our sustainability goals.”
Micron is also a member of global industry consortia that aims to standardize and advance sustainable practices. These alliances provide a platform for sharing best practices, setting benchmarks, and fostering innovation. For example, Micron participates in initiatives to promote a circular economy within the semiconductor industry, encouraging resource efficiency and waste minimization.
Measuring Impact: Transparency and Accountability
As a part of its ESG commitment, Micron has also made a commitment to transparency. In fact, it is a cornerstone of its sustainability strategy. The company has developed a comprehensive framework for tracking, reporting, and communicating its progress toward ESG goals. This approach involves a combination of internal assessments, third-party audits, and public reporting to ensure accountability at every step.
Reporting Frameworks
Micron aligns its reporting with internationally recognized standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). These frameworks provide a structured way to disclose performance data across key environmental, social, and governance metrics.
“By adhering to global reporting standards, we ensure consistency and comparability in how we share our progress, allowing stakeholders to assess our performance objectively,” Sandhu notes.
The company also aligns its initiatives with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on areas such as climate action, clean water, and decent work. Each of these alignments reinforces Micron’s broader role in addressing global challenges.
Data-Driven Insights
Being a technology and engineering company, data is also playing a huge part in the company’s efforts. Micron leverages advanced data analytics to track key performance indicators (KPIs) across its operations. These KPIs include:
Emission intensity per unit of production.
Water withdrawal, reuse, and recycling rates across facilities.
Waste diversion metrics, including tons of materials recycled or recovered.
This data is used to generate detailed annual sustainability reports, which are publicly accessible to ensure full transparency. Sandhu explains, “Our data-driven approach allows us to identify trends, evaluate the effectiveness of our initiatives, and adjust strategies as needed to stay on track.”
Third-Party Verification
To enhance credibility, Micron engages independent organizations to verify its environmental data and assess the integrity of its reporting. These third-party audits validate the company’s methodologies, ensuring that its claims are accurate and aligned with industry best practices.
Renewable Energy: Progress and Challenges
Renewable energy forms a cornerstone of Micron’s sustainability efforts. The company has made strides in regions like Malaysia, where it sources 100% renewable electricity through the Green Electricity Tariff (GET) program. Initiatives like this have reduced emissions significantly—equivalent to removing over 35,000 cars from the road annually.
Collaborations with renewable energy providers, such as Solarvest, ensure that Micron can scale these efforts across its operations. However, variability in renewable energy availability and infrastructure poses challenges that require ongoing investment and adaptation.
Addressing Water Scarcity
Water scarcity presents another significant challenge for industries, particularly in manufacturing. Micron is addressing this issue through innovative technologies aimed at achieving 100% water reuse, recycling, and restoration.
One promising development is its collaboration with Aqua Membranes. Early testing at the Boise facility showed a 20% reduction in energy consumption for reverse osmosis systems using Aqua Membranes’ printed spacer technology. While these initial results are encouraging, widespread implementation will depend on scalability and long-term viability.
In addition to this, the company has recently partnered with the Global Peace Foundation in Malaysia for its AquaConnect Project. This project aims to supply clean water for sanitation and consumption to remote Orang Asli villages. Micron is supporting this project with an RM1 million donation as it kicks off. The RM1 million will be used to create gravity-supported piping that will deliver clean water to the villages in the immediate community around Micron’s Tanjung Agas facility in Johor. Four villages located in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Tangkak, Johor, and Muar, Johor will be the focus of this effort.
Sandhu notes, “Innovations like these are part of our commitment to reducing environmental impact while ensuring operational efficiency.”
Waste Management: Moving Toward Circularity
Micron’s waste management goals include diverting 95% of waste from landfills by 2030. This involves implementing recycling and recovery processes as well as rethinking product design to extend lifecycle usability.
The development of modular memory products, such as the LPCAMM2, reflects a commitment to circular economy principles. By enabling component upgrades instead of replacements, Micron aims to reduce electronic waste while offering cost benefits to consumers.
The partnership with iFixit further illustrates this effort, providing repair kits for select products to encourage reuse. While these initiatives mark progress, achieving zero waste remains a significant undertaking requiring industry-wide collaboration.
Facilities as a Reflection of Sustainability Goals
Micron’s facilities exemplify its efforts to balance growth with sustainability. The company has integrated green building practices into several of its operations, achieving LEED Gold certifications for plants in Taiwan and Singapore and a LEED Platinum certification for its office in India.
Source: Facebook
“Our Batu Kawan facility is designed to meet growing technology demands while incorporating sustainability at its core. It’s a model for how we aim to expand responsibly.”
In Malaysia, the expansion of the Batu Kawan facility, a USD$1 billion investment, reflects Micron’s intent to scale operations while adhering to sustainability principles. However, balancing production demands with environmental goals requires ongoing innovation and vigilance.
Shaping the Future
Micron’s sustainability efforts are a work in progress, reflecting both the complexity of the challenges it faces and the company’s commitment to addressing them. By focusing on transparency, measurable impact, and collaboration, Micron is setting a standard for integrating environmental responsibility into industrial innovation.
Amarjit Sandhu aptly encompasses Micron’s ethos when it comes to sustainability in this statement, “Our focus is on building a future where technology and sustainability go hand in hand, ensuring that our progress benefits both people and the planet.” Perhaps more importantly, this ethos might be the difference between treating ESG goals and SDGs as a check box rather than an effort to drive mutually beneficial innovations that benefit more than just the bottom line.
This article was based on an interview with Mr Amarjit Sandhu, Corporate Vice President of Assembly and Test NAND Operations at Micron Technology.
Ramon Pinero Corporate Vice President of Assembly and Test NAND Operations, Micron Technology
Mr Amarjit Singh Sandhu is the Corporate Vice President, Assembly and Test NAND Operations for Micron (Singapore and Malaysia). He has 30 years of Operations Management expertise in locations such as Singapore, China, and Malaysia. He currently oversees the Assembly and Test sites namely in Micron Singapore, Muar (Johor) and Penang, engaged in manufacturing NAND and DRAM components, Solid State Devices (SSD) and memory modules. He has pioneered 4 Green field manufacturing startups in different geographies and led 3 successful turnarounds of matured organizations in the last 10 years in China, Singapore and Malaysia. Amarjit built up his career in the semiconductor industry with Texas Instruments Singapore, United Test and Assembly Center (UTAC), Western Digital Corporation (WDC) prior to joining Micron Semiconductor Asia in 2018. He earned his MBA from the Warwick Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore.
An avid tech enthusiast and passionate about what comes next. Jeevan has been entwined in tech since he was in high school and has a background in Medical Bioscience. He's passionate about tech and more importantly what benefits can come from it.
