Issue Date: August 3, 2023

Waste Management

The waste produced by Coretronic's operational activities is mostly non-hazardous. However, hazardous industrial waste, such as flammable mixtures and electronic components, is produced during the R&D test process, which is incinerated and physically treated. We manage hazardous waste through output control and the categorization of scrap materials to reduce the amount of hazardous industrial waste. We also require suppliers to control waste disposal processes, fulfilling our commitment to environmentally friendly practices.

Waste Management Strategy

Enhance waste management and increase resource recycling percentage.
Design products with reduced size and materials to minimize waste output.
Use recycled materials to achieve waste reduction and recycling.
Commission qualified contractors for waste disposal.

Waste Output

We classify waste into hazardous and non-hazardous waste based on their environmental impact. We further categorize non-hazardous waste into domestic waste, recyclables, reusable materials, and general industrial waste. We divide the waste into 5 categories based on their disposal status. In addition to domestic and recyclable waste, other waste is generated during manufacturing.
In 2022, the Taiwan plants' waste output was 495.7 tons, increasing from 2021 because of capacity expansion. Among the waste, hazardous waste accounted for 0.8%, non-hazardous direct disposal waste accounted for 46.5%, and non-hazardous recyclable waste accounted for 52.7%.
The China plants' waste output was 6,367.1 tons. Among the waste, hazardous waste accounted for 0.4%, non-hazardous direct disposal waste accounted for 11.7%, and non-hazardous recyclable waste accounted for 87.9%.

1：Mercury lamps, empty bottles, waste liquids, electronic waste, and other waste determined by local environmental protection authorities to be hazardous. Sorted and collected according to hazard characteristics and disposed of by qualified waste contractors.
2：Recyclable and reusable waste, including domestic waste, non-classifiable combustible general industrial waste, waste plastics, waste paper, scrap metal, and waste designated for reuse. Recyclable and reusable waste is collected and processed by qualified local recycling companies. Other waste is transported to processing facilities by qualified disposal companies according to the disposal methods of the waste.
3：The scope of revenue by year
2020: Coretronic, Young Green Energy, uCare Medical Electronics, Coretronic Intelligent Cloud Service, Coretronic Intelligent Robotics, Innospectra, Coretronic MEMS, and Coretronic Reality
2021-2022: Taiwan plants—Coretronic, Young Green Energy, uCare Medical Electronics, Coretronic Intelligent Cloud Service, Coretronic Intelligent Robotics, Innospectra, Coretronic MEMS, Coretronic Reality, and Coretronic Intelligent Logistic Solutions; China plants—Coretronic Display (Suzhou), Coretronic Optotech (Suzhou), Coretronic Optics (Suzhou), Coretronic Projection (Kunshan), and Coretronic Optics (Kunshan)
4：All generated waste is transported by qualified waste disposal to approved treatment facilities, with no disposal transfer involved.
5：The waste output, transfer, and disposal data are sourced from the EPA's Industrial Waste Report and Management System and the Jiangsu Province Pollution Source "One Enterprise, One File" Management System. The data on recycling and reuse are sourced from the plants' internal records and accounting statements.

Waste Reduction Strategy

Reusing Packaging Materials
In 2022, Coretronic implemented 8 recycling measures for packaging materials, achieving a recycling rate of 97%. Our recycling achievements, measured by the number of items, are as follows: 97% of trays, 90% of pallets, 74% of plastic pads, and 100% of cardboard boxes. A total of 1,195 tons of packaging materials were recycled and reused, reducing 2,462 tonCO₂e and saving NT$150,000 in wooden pallet procurement costs (According to the Low Carbon Sustainable Information System website, each metric ton of waste produces 2.06 tonCO₂e).
Circular Economy Alliance
◎ Reusing wooden pallet prototypes: Since 2017, we have collaborated with local transportation suppliers to recycle and reuse 490 tons of wooden pallet prototypes in logistics transportation, reducing 1,010 tonCO₂e and saving NT$2.23 million in wooden pallet purchase and waste disposal costs.
◎ Remanufacturing trays: From 2021 to 2022, Taiwan Plant 1 recycled and remanufactured 1.4 tons of scrap trays, reducing 2.9 tonCO₂e.
Lighten Chemical Containers
Kunshan plants replaced the 500 mL glass bottles with 2.5 L plastic buckets for ethanol storage, reducing 0.768 kilograms of hazardous industrial waste generated per liter of ethanol used. In 2022, we reduced 2.6 tons of waste and 0.8 tonCO₂e, saving RMB 9,153 (approximately NT$40,000) in waste disposal costs. According to the Carbon Footprint Information Platform website, each metric ton of hazardous industrial waste disposed of in landfills produces 0.3 tonCO₂e.
Product End Processing Tracking
To ensure legal use of recycled products, Coretronic establishes explicit waste management regulations and performs on-site audit of the legal compliance and back-end disposition capability of the waste disposal service suppliers every year. If any nonconformities are identified, guidance is provided with an admonition received by the supplier concerned, and the nonconformities are subject to follow-up actions for improvement. If nonconformities are not removed, the waste disposal agreement will be terminated to ensure legal and appropriate disposal of waste. In 2022, audits of 36 suppliers rendering the services of wood pallet recycle and disposal of industrial and hazardous industrial waste and waste electronic components were scheduled and completed with a completion rate of 100%. The results of the audits did not show any nonconformities.