EDINA, MN, Jan. 16, 2012 -- Spansion Inc., provider of Flash memory technology, has won the 2011 City of Austin Environmental Awareness Award for its outstanding success in water conservation and greenhouse gas reduction.
Spansion began a multi-year water conservation project in 2001. A core component of the program was ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) technology from Dow Water & Process Solutions, which has enabled Spansion to reclaim 970 gallons per minute of processed wastewater for use as a replacement for incoming city water at its Austin, Texas manufacturing facility.
"Part of being a responsible corporate citizen is respecting the environment," said Randy Blair, vice president of Spansion's Wafer Fab 25 Operations in Austin. "Our multi-year water conservation project reduced our water usage by 60 percent and saves the equivalent of 7,150 soda cans full of water per minute. We greatly appreciate Austin city officials recognizing us with this award."
Dow provided SFP-2880 Ultrafiltration modules and FILMTEC™ BW30XFR-400/34i Reverse Osmosis membranes as part of the third phase of the recycled water system at the plant. The system allows Spansion to consume less water and treat more than 400 gallons per minute (gpm) of their fabrication wastewater.
Water conservation also helped the company reduce greenhouse gases. Since Spansion uses less water, Austin Water Utility requires a smaller amount of electricity to produce more clean water. Consequently, ground-level ozone and other ground-level pollution are reduced -- thereby helping city officials meet EPA clean air requirements.
"We are elated to see our customer win the Austin Environmental Awareness Award and Spansion illustrates how good corporate citizenship resonates across the community," said Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions. "This award also reinforces how clean water and energy are intimately intertwined and showcases how Dow products and technologies enable our customers to increase efficiency across their operations."
###
