The company has committed to reducing its water use on a per-chip basis, below 2010 levels by 2020. In 2010, Intel withdrew 8.2 billion gallons. In 2011, this figure grew to 8.3 billion gallons, representing a 2 percent increase year-on-year in absolute water use. When normalized against chip production and revenue, the company’s usage fell by 6 percent and 18 percent year-on-year respectively.

Since 1998, Intel says it has invested more than $100 million in water conservation programs, saving over 40 billion gallons of water. The company estimates that it takes 16 gallons of water to produce one chip. As such, efforts have been made to recycle as much process water as possible. In 2011, the company recycled roughly 2.4 billion gallons of water, equivalent to about 30 percent of its total water withdrawals for the year.

Intel has announced a target of sending zero chemical waste to landfill by 2020. In 2010, the company generated 31,300 tons of chemical waste, of which 23,500 tons were recycled. In 2011, Intel produced 35,300 tons of chemical waste, or 13 percent more than 2010. Some 28,800 tons of the 2011 total was recycled.

The company generated 43 percent more solid waste year-on-year, but recycled 55 percent more waste over the same time period. Its recycling rate rose from 83 percent in 2010 to 87 percent in 2011. The amount of solid waste Intel produced rose from a normalized production index score of 74 in 2010 to an NPI score of 106 in 2011 (see chart, below).

The final goal that Intel announced in its report is to design all new buildings to a minimum LEED silver certification between 2010 and 2020. By the end of 2011, Intel had achieved LEED silver Certification 18 buildings across five sites in Arizona, Costa Rica, China, Israel and Malaysia.

The company used the Global Reporting Index to compile its report. It self-assessed the report at an “A” level.