Smart Trash: Examining the Impact of RFID Tags in the Recycling Industry

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags offer benefits for product lifecycle management and can also be helpful to indicate how best to recycle the product at the end of its life. Because they introduce metals and extraneous materials into the recycling stream, however, RFID tags themselves can also be difficult to recycle.

The study, funded by the European Commission, aims to inform policy making by assessing the environmental impact of the RFID tags themselves as well as the environmental advantages that the use of RFID can provide to product lifecycle management. An integral goal is to identify the associated obstacles and needs for policy action and/or research activity.

The Interim Report represents an important deliverable of the project. It presents preliminary findings of our research conducted in the initial phase of the study (February 2011- February 2012). It provides the basis for a 3-months public consultation phase. Please join and discuss with us at: http://rfid-waste.ning.com.

The study, led by RAND Europe and conducted in partnership with the Department of Processing and Recycling at RWTH Aachen University and P3 Ingenieurgesellschaft, applies a number of different quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including systematic literature reviews, key informant interviews, use cases and case study analysis, and scenario development.

For more information about the public consultation, email us at rfid@rand.org.