By Fabiana Negrin Ochoa 



  Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that all its manufacturing sites worldwide have now been verified by a third party as diverting at least 95% of waste through methods other than thermal processing. 


  The Korean electronics giant said certification company UL has granted Zero Waste to Landfill gold validation to its semiconductor sites in China, the U.S. and South Korea. 


  Samsung said this is part of its aim to minimize its environmental footprint by shifting waste-management methods from thermal processing or landfill disposal to recycling and reuse. 


  Samsung is one of several companies in Asia increasingly attempting to tackle the problem of e-waste. 


  Chip maker SK Hynix Inc. last year was the first South Korean company to get the UL certification. LG Electronics Inc. has a global program to collect e-waste under Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment guidelines, and China's Baidu Inc. has developed an app with the UN Development Programme that helps users price and recycle electronic products. 


  According to the Global E-Waste Monitor, e-waste worldwide totaled 44.7 million metric tons in 2016, only 20% of which was recycled through appropriate channels. 


  Asia was by far the largest generator of e-waste that year, according to the report from UN University, the International Telecommunication Union and the International Solid Waste Association. They predict global e-waste will reach 52.2 million tons by 2021. 


  Write to Fabiana Negrin Ochoa at fabiana.negrinochoa@dowjones.com 


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  06-11-20 0603ET