Company
Sustainability
We strive to make things better. Whether it’s for our company and employees, our environment, or the communities we serve, we are committed to giving back.
Our Sustainability Mission
Our purpose extends beyond our products. Our business is built on the power of silicon carbide and the innovative possibilities unleashed by the technology. Always at the forefront of technology revolutions, we serve as a catalyst for driving change that transforms our communities, industries, and our world by powering more and consuming less.
Sustainability Reporting
We release an annual report to disclose our initiatives, goals and performance in the areas of Social Responsibility, Environment, Economic and Corporate Governance. Learn how we’re enhancing economic value for ourselves and our customers, supporting our people and communities and protecting our environment.
2021 Sustainability Report
Past Sustainability Reports
Related Goals
Health & Safety
Our Ambition
Providing a safe and healthful work environment is paramount to our success and protects our most valuable resource, our employees.
Health & Safety
Our Goal
Establish a certified Occupational Health & Safety Management System for 100% of our manufacturing sites by 2025
Community
Our Ambition
Close the opportunity gap by providing more opportunities for STEM education, at all levels, to people in need, particularly in underserved communities.
Community
Our Goal
Establish STEM partnerships at 100% of our major locations by 2025
Processes that Protect the Environment, Products that Improve it
We strive to minimize resource use and reduce the environmental impact of our production process. We are committed to responsibly managing environmental impacts, including being in compliance with environmental legislation as a minimum, and ensuring continual improvement in our environmental performance. Our product sustainability goals are simple: enable our customers to invent power and wireless systems for a responsible, energy efficient future. We are committed to responsibly managing our products from cradle to grave as we lead the innovation and commercialization of Silicon Carbide and GaN.
EMS ISO 14001 Certified
Power Product Ecology
RF Product Ecology
- Environment, Health and Safety Policy
- Product End of Life
Environment, Health and Safety Policy
We endorse and adhere to Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) standards for all of our sites. It is our EH&S goal to design and develop products safely, that realize energy efficiency, minimize environmental impacts, and have sustainable life cycles. In this manner, the Company is continuously improving our EH&S performance and reducing the overall impacts of our manufacturing processes. To further ensure that we can implement such standards, we are dedicated to:
- providing a safe and healthy work environment for our employees;
- complying with regulatory and other requirements;
- using natural resources, energy, and materials efficiently;
- substituting sustainable resources in place of non-renewable resources;
- reusing or recycling materials wherever technically possible and economically reasonable;
- minimizing waste and disposing of waste safely and responsibly;
- sourcing raw material responsibly;
- implementing specific measures to prevent and minimize hazards to humans; and the environment including pollution prevention; and
- consulting with and encouraging the participation of workers and workers’ representatives, as applicable.
Related Goals
Greenhouse Gasses
Our Ambition
Actively fight against climate change and reduce our and others’ carbon footprint; Stay efficient, stay productive. Be a company that makes a difference for future generations.
Greenhouse Gasses
Our Goal
Reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2030. Achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2050.
Water
Our Ambition
Ensure sustainable and efficient use of water across all sectors. Become a leader in addressing water scarcity.
Water
Our Goal
Increase water recycling rate by 25% by 2025.
Waste
Our Ambition
Be a company that directs to zero waste through waste reduction and recycling.
Waste
Our Goal
Achieve 85% waste diversion rate from landfill by 2025.
Responsible Business Practices, Innovating for a Better Future
Our organization operates at the highest ethical standards and actively manages risks inside and outside of the organization to ensure long-term financial performance. We adhere to the policies outlined in the Code of Conduct and requires our suppliers to adhere to strict social and environmental standards.
Related Goals
Supply Chain
Our Ambition
Assess suppliers on social and environmental risks to strengthen partnerships with those with best practices.
Supply Chain
Our Goal
Evaluate ESG risks and opportunities for 100% of suppliers on our Approved Supplier List by 2025.
Diversity
Our Ambition
Improve resiliency through our diversity efforts and reduce inequalities across our supply chain.
Diversity
Our Goal
Achieve >5% supply chain spend from diverse suppliers by 2025.
Absolute Commitment to Integrity and Respect
Our Board of Directors sets high standards for our employees, officers and directors. We are committed to transparency of our Sustainability information and data.
Related Goals
Risk Management
Our Ambition
Use a defined and concise method to easily gather the data needed to evaluate sustainability risks.
Risk Management
Our Goal
Complete 3 risk plans/year under our Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program by 2025.
Transparency
Our Ambition
Actively and continuously work to improve our disclosures and ratings through major reporting frameworks to drive continuous improvement efforts.
Transparency
Our Goal
Achieve a score of B or better on all CDP surveys by 2025.
Sustainability Milestones
July 1987
Cree Founded
August 1989
Introduced first blue LED
August 2005
Began recycling process water at Durham headquarters
January 2007
Initiated a wastewater pre-treatment system on site at headquarters
February 2007
Launched Cree LED City Program
February 2008
April 2008
Launched Cree LED University Program
January 2011
Began reclaiming solvent waste
January 2013
Completed LED lighting upgrade for facilities
March 2014
LED breaks 300 lumens/watt barrier
January 2015
Began reclaiming organic chemical waste
June 2015
Completed first company-wide GHG emissions assessment
December 2015
Published EHS Policy
May 2016
Our major manufacturing sites become ISO 14001 certified
June 2016
First Submission of GHG Emissions to CDP
July 2016
Published sustainability section of website
August 2016
Began composting at headquarters’ cafeteria
May 2017
Joined EP100 and pledged to double our energy productivity in terms of lumens produced by our products per kWh consumed in manufacturing by 2020
September 2017
Began estimating our Scope 3 GHG emissions for the first time
October 2017
Our Huizhou facility installed a new water recycle system, which recycles approximately 200,000 gallons of water per day.
January 2018
Achieved EP100 goal for lighting products
March 2018
Added electric vehicle charging stations at headquarters
May 2018
All of our major manufacturing sites become certified to the ISO 14001:2015 standard
June 2018
Our North Carolina manufacturing sites become members of the NC Environmental Stewardship Initiative
May 2018
Our first intern program welcomed 50 students from colleges across the nation
October 2018
Added electric vehicle charging stations at our Research Triangle Park (NC) site
October 2018
Began conducting our first formal employee engagement survey
November 2018
Launched our first Employee Resource Group, the Women's Initiative.
December 2018
Our EV chargers used by employees during 2018 avoided 7,480 kg of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to planting 192 trees and letting them grow for 10 years.
December 2018
Our North Carolina facilities achieved a goal to reduce solid waste to landfill by 10%. We reduced our average solid waste to landfill from 55.0% to 44.3% from 2016 to 2018.
April 2019
Hosted an Earth Day event at our headquarters
May 2019
Our 2019 Internship Program welcomed 122 enthusiastic and intelligent college students. From 2018 to 2019, we more than doubled the intern population, extended the program internationally and increased the diversity rate by 25%
June 2019
Our North Carolina manufacturing sites rose to the Rising Steward level in the NC Environmental Stewardship Initiative program
July 2019
Hosted our first Inclusion & Diversity Conference for employees at our North Carolina facilities
September 2019
Launched first English as a Second Language (ESL) Program
October 2019
Developed a new EP100 goal to double our energy productivity in terms of revenue per MWh of energy consumed in manufacturing by 2040.
December 2019
As a result of various energy efficiency projects, our Huizhou factory’s electricity consumption decreased by 20% from 2014 to 2019.
December 2019
Our Huizhou facility reduced its water consumption rate for production by 64% from 2014 to 2019.
December 2019
Made the list of Bloomberg’s 50 Companies to Watch in 2020
February 2020
Made Barron’s List of The 100 Most Sustainable Companies
February 2020
Launched our second Employee Resource Group, the PRIDE group
April 2020
Donated 20,000 KN95 masks to Duke University Health System, a local hospital near our headquarters
June 2020
Donated $3.5M for the Wolfspeed Scholarship program and the Dr.John Edmond and Dr.John Palmour Endowed Faculty Chairs to expand STEM opportunities at SUNY Polytechnic Institute
August 2020
We disclosed our water-related information to CDP Water Security for the first time
September 2020
Donated $4M to N.C. A&T University, a historically black university (HBCU), to establish the Wolfspeed Endowed Scholars Program to support students in STEM
October 2020
Launched new ERGs, Black Hispanic Latinx (BHL) and Veterans Pact
December 2020
A total 42 of our employees completed our Technician Certification Program in 2020
People First, People Always
Our employees are valued and critical to our success.
Learn how we are committed to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion for our employees and in the community.
We strive to minimize resource use and reduce the environmental impact of our production process.
We believe every individual should have a roof over their heads, enough food to each and an opportunity to excel.