Spansion Wins City of Austin Environmental Awareness Award

Edina, MN - January 16, 2012

Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS), a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, announces its industry-leading ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis were utilized by Spansion Inc. (NYSE: CODE) in winning the 2011 City of Austin, Texas Environmental Awareness Award in the large business category. Spansion is a leading provider of NOR Flash memory and had started a multi-year water conservation project beginning in 2001.

The award recognizes the efforts of individuals and groups that are making significant contributions to the protection and enhancement of Austin’s environment.

“Part of being a responsible corporate citizen is respecting the environment,” said Randy Blair, vice president of Spansion’s Wafer Fab 25 Operations in Austin. “Our multi-year water conservation project reduced our water usage by 60 percent and saves the equivalent of 7,150 soda cans full of water per minute. We greatly appreciate Austin city officials recognizing us with this award.”

Austin city council members valued the direct environmental benefits of Spansion’s water conservation efforts and also recognized the impact water conservation had for reducing greenhouse gases.

Since Spansion uses less water, Austin Water Utility requires a smaller amount of electricity to produce more clean water. Consequently, ground-level ozone and other ground-level pollution are reduced – thereby helping city officials meet EPA clean air requirements.

“We are elated to see our customer win the Austin Environmental Awareness Award and Spansion illustrates how good corporate citizenship resonates across the community,” said Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions. “This award also reinforces how clean water and energy are intimately intertwined and showcases how Dow products and technologies enable our customers to increase efficiency across their operations.”

An integrated DOW™ Ultrafiltration module and FILMTEC™ Reverse Osmosis membrane system allows Spansion to consume less water and treat more than 400 gallons per minute (gpm) of their fabrication wastewater.

The DOW SFP-2880 Ultrafiltration modules are an ideal choice for system capacities of 50 m3/hr (220 gpm) or more. Larger and longer, 8-inch diameter and 80-inch in length, together with an increase in packing density of 10,000 fibers, this module offers the highest effective membrane area of the DOW Ultrafiltration modules.

FILMTEC reverse osmosis membranes are made from a thin-film composite polyamide material. Their high resistance to bio-fouling (i.e., the build-up of biological matter inside the membrane element) extends the time between necessary membrane cleanings.

Having excellent membrane performance and automated precision fabrication, FILMTEC elements enable higher solids and organics rejection, lower energy usage, and higher performance consistency.

The goal of the City of Austin Environment Awareness Awards is to recognize the efforts of individuals and groups that are making significant contributions to the protection and enhancement of the environment. The Award is honorary and does not include monetary recognition.

About Spansion

Spansion (NYSE: CODE) is a leading provider of the Flash memory technology at the heart of the world's electronics systems, powering everything from the routers that run the internet to the highly interactive and immersive consumer and automotive electronics that are enriching people's daily lives. Spansion's broad and differentiated Flash memory product portfolio, award-winning MirrorBit charge-trapping technology, and industry leading service and support are enabling customers to achieve greater efficiency and success in their target markets. For more information, visit http://www.spansion.com.

About Dow Water & Process Solutions

The global leader in sustainable separation and purification technology, Dow Water & Process Solutions is making a clear impact in the world. We’re helping to make water safer and more accessible, food taste better, pharmaceuticals more effective and industries more efficient and spearheading the development of sustainable technologies that integrate water and energy requirements. Dow Water & Process Solutions offers a broad portfolio of ion exchange resins, reverse osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration membranes and electrodeionization products, with strong positions in a number of major application areas, including industrial and municipal water, industrial processes, pharmaceuticals, power, residential water and waste and water reuse. More information about Dow Water & Process Solutions can be found at www.dowwaterandprocess.com.

About Dow

Dow combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

For Editorial Information:

Tim Hill
Dow Water & Process Solutions
+1 952 897 4364

Vanessa Horn
Gibbs & Soell Public Relations
+1 312 648 6700 ext. 2107
vhorn@gibbs-soell.com