Towards cleaner semiconductor packaging: Life cycle assessment of material and location decisions on carbon and water scarcity footprints

Semiconductor devices drive technological innovation needed for the transition toward more sustainable systems; however, their manufacturing entails significant environmental burdens, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water scarcity. This study conducts a life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance of two major semiconductor packaging types, Lead Frame (LF) and Flip Chip (FC), using gold (Au) or copper (Cu) bonding wires. Carbon footprint (CF) and water scarcity footprint (WSF) are quantified in accordance with ISO 14067 and ISO 14046, respectively, using the ReCiPe and AWARE methods, with a functional unit of 1 mm³. Results indicate that FC-Au wire has the highest CF ( 2.72E-03 kgCO₂eq) and overall environmental impact (2.43E-04 Pt), driven mainly by electricity consumption and upstream raw material production. The same configuration exhibits the highest water use (3.62 E-03 m 3 ), and a WSF evaluated at 2.49 E-03 m 3 world-eq. Incorporating regional water scarcity data reduces WSF values by up to 71.19%, noting the importance of spatial resolution. An alternative assessment with a FU of one piece confirms this trend. Cu-based packaging represents a more sustainable alternative to Au-based packaging, exhibiting significantly lower environmental impacts and water scarcity burdens. These results provide actionable insights for material selection and for identifying sustainable manufacturing locations, particularly in regions such as Japan and Malaysia, within the semiconductor industry. • Two impact LCA-based methods were used to assess the environmental impact of semiconductor packaging • LCA results show that material and packaging types strongly affect environmental impacts. • Copper-based lead frame (LF-Cu) packaging offers the lowest carbon and water footprints. • Water scarcity impacts vary up to 20× across regions, stressing site selection.