TSM-Bee? TSMC gets into the honey business after working with local beekeepers to establish hives around its fabs

TSMC has worked with local beekeepers in Taiwan to produce ‘Ji Mi’ – TSMC branded honey. The production of this golden, viscous, and culinary important liquid has become possible around the world’s largest contract chipmaker fabs in Taiwan thanks to extensive environmental and sustainability efforts by the company. Sources: Liberty Times and Mirror Daily (machine translated).

On Friday, TSMC presented at the ‘2025 Asia Pacific Sustainability Expo - Co-Prosperity x Growth Forum.’ At the event, its SVP of Corporate Sustainability, Ho Li-mei, claimed TSMC's commitment to ecological integration has reaped very worthwhile, and some surprising, dividends.

The prime example, as per our headline, is that bees have returned to the local ecosystem around TSMC’s massive manufacturing facilities. Bees came naturally after the restoration of plant species chosen for their suitability, after environmental surveys. Now TSMC is collaborating with local beekeepers and Tunghai University to produce TSMC-exclusive honey – ‘Ji Mi.’

Other signs that nature’s balance has been restored around TSMC fabs are the return of native Taiwanese species like the silver goby in waters around the plants. It is also claimed that TSMC is the first semiconductor producer in Taiwan to have fireflies living on the site. Fireflies are notoriously fussy about the environments they inhabit in Taiwan.

Clean water was the key?

Tom’s Hardware regulars will be aware of TSMC’s previous concerns about water supplies. This resource pressure, and the need for TSMC to be particularly eco-friendly, given Taiwan’s rather small size, may have been instrumental to the surprising eco-dividends we are now seeing around its fabs.

At the Expo, Ho Li-mei mentioned that TSMC has made major inroads in managing precious resources in the water-intensive semiconductor industry. Thanks to specialized resource management, water recycling at new facilities has been increased to over 90%, it is claimed.

As resources are carefully conserved, semiconductor manufacturing waste is being reduced to the minimum. The source reports note that TSMC's waste recycling rate is as high as 97%, and less than 1% of waste in Taiwan is landfilled. Moreover, a modern ‘Zero Waste Center’ in Taichung has been successful at converting waste into electronic-grade raw materials – advancing the circular economy.

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