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OFEE and EPA Host Meeting on Recycling Impacts of RFID Tags

On September 14, 2004, OFEE and the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste co-hosted a meeting on the impact of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on packaging materials reuse and recycling. Participants included representatives of the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, the industrial drum recyclers, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, and the paper, steel, aluminum, glass, and plastic packaging industries. The intent of the meeting was to provide the potentially affected recyclers and users of recycled materials with an understanding of what RFID tags are, what constituents they contain, and how they are and will be used.

Wal-Mart is requiring its top 100 suppliers to place RFID tags on product cases and pallets by January 2005, beginning in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The use of RFID tags is intended to improve inventory control and logistics. The Department of Defense also will require the placement of RFID tags on specified products going to specified depots beginning in January 2005. Other users of the tags are Target Stores, Best Buy, and the Albertsons grocery store chain. RFID tags also could be used in the future to meet new Food and Drug Administration requirements to label medications.

RFID tags consist of a computer chip connected to an antenna and a substrate on which the antenna resides. They contain silicon, adhesives, and nickel. The antennae are predominantly made from copper, but can also be made from aluminum or, if printed antenna are used, from silver. The constituents of RFID tags are potential contaminants for materials recyclers and manufacturers using recycled materials. As a result, OFEE and EPA believe that it is essential that these industries begin to understand the potential impacts of having RFID tags on packaging materials and pallets and plan how to minimize or mitigate them.