RFID Experts Group (REG) eWaste: Environmental & Recycling Issues 27 October

Today’s REG Panel  Craig K. Harmon, Q.E.D. Systems, REG Chair  Rich Vossel, Savi Technology  Angela Leith, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  Clarke McAllister, ADASA

RFID Experts Group  Craig K. Harmon, Chair  Bert Moore, Secretary  Responsible for RFID Implementation Guidance

RFID Experts Group  Formed in February 2004 to assist DoD with RFID implementation  Current Proposed Guidelines for the Use of RFID - Enabled Labels in Military Logistics: Recommendations for Revision of MIL-STD 129  Under the AIM Global umbrella in July 2004  International collaboration (1st Intl Mtg - 9/15-16)  Europe  Japan  Korea  China

REG Terms of Reference (ToRs)  ToR 5-I: Interrogator System Implementation & Operations  ToR 5-B: Back-up  ToR 5-L: Enabled Labels & Packaging  ToR 5-R: Recyclability  ToR 5-Q: Tag Quality  ToR 5-E: Education & Certification  ToR 5-G: Global Operation (Regulatory)  ToR 5-P: Privacy  ToR 5-F: Safety (Public Policy)  ToR: 5-C: Security  ToR: 5-T: Sensors and Transducers  ToR 5-S: Technology Selection  ToR 5-M: Software & Middleware

ISO/IEC Implementation TRs  ISO/IEC , Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Implementation guidelines – Part 1: RFID-enabled labels  ISO/IEC , Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Implementation guidelines – Part 2: Recyclability of RF tags  ISO/IEC , Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Implementation guidelines – Part 3: RFID interrogator/antenna installation

RF tags & recycling  How RF tags can assist in recycling efforts  The effect of RF tags in the waste stream

Europe Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS ) & Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

RoHS  EU’s Directive 2002/95/EC  RoHS legislation calls for the removal of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers  The National Safety Council estimates that 254 million home computers became obsolete in the U.S. between 1997 and Another 250 million are expected to become obsolete between 2004 and  The Gartner Group, expects Americans to replace or junk 133,000 PCs per day this year alone.

 The electronics industry must fully comply with the RoHS directive by July 1, 2006  Companies that aren’t in compliance with the RoHS directive by the deadline will not be able to sell their products into EU countries.

China  China’s Regulation for Pollution Control of Electronic Products (RPCEP)  Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has been working on lead-free legislation, and its Article 11 requires manufacturers to restrict the use of the same substances targeted by Europe in certain consumer electronic products.  Six Chinese ministries have contributed to writing the Management Regulation on the Recycling and Treatment of Disposed Appliances and Electronics Products regulation, including the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA). Significantly, the Chinese directive will cover all electrical and electronic products produced in, or imported to, China. Noncompliance could mean heavy fines and/or losing the right to do business in China.

Japan  Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law governs the use and control of hazardous substances in products sold in the marketplace. Japan believes its environmental laws already comply with global directives, including the RoHS and WEEE, and isn’t expected to introduce any additional legislation. (In fact, Japanese manufacturers, particularly in the consumer electronics sector, started to place lead-free restrictions on its suppliers a few years ago.)  Japan already has several environmental laws in place, including the Promotion of Utilization of Recycled Resources, which regulates computers and other electronic products and rechargeable battery recycling. Most Japanese companies expect to be RoHS-compliant by March 1, 2006, four months before the EU-imposed deadline.

South Korea & Taiwan  South Korea and Taiwan are also working on RoHS-type legislation, and Mexico has proposed legislation with provisions similar to the RoHS

Rich Vossel  AIM REG Recycling ToR  Strategic Systems – Savi Technology

RFID & Recycling

 How Big a Deal is RFID?  Supply Chain Mandates  Walmart, DoD, Albertsons, Best Buy, Metro, Tesco  Walmart - $125 Billion in US.  Average Case sells for $50  2.5 Billion Tagged Case  Albertson,Target, etc. – Guess 10 Billion Tagged Case  Next - Guess 10X Items per Case  100 Billion Tags

RFID & Recycling  How Big a Deal is RFID?  Healthcare  ePedigree – Rx Units of Sale  3 Billion Prescriptions per year  Next - Medical Devices, Unit Dose, Instruments, Staff

RFID & Recycling  Where will all these tags end up?  In someone's trash... because most are attached to PACKAGING  Supply Chain Mandates  Pallets and Cases  ePedigree  Bottles, syringe vials, blister packs, tubes

RFID & Recycling Passive Tag Components (.25-1gm/tag) FacePolypropylene26% Paper41% AdhesiveAcrylate12% ICSilicon0.1% ACPEpoxy0.3% ACPMetalNickelTrace AdhesivePolyurethane 4% AntennaCopper36% Aluminum 6% Silver 4% Epoxy Carrier 2% SubstratePET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) 40% AdhesiveAcrylate16%

RFID & Recycling What are the affected Waste Streams?  Corrugate, Carton Board  Plastic  Glass  Steel  Aluminum

RFID & Recycling  What are the Issues with RFID tags and Recycling?  Tainting Existing Waste Streams  Recycle Materials are Raw Materials  Purity and Quality = Price  Regulations focusing on eWastes  Enough electronics to be eWaste?  Recycle Industry Game Changer  Ownership Mark  Automated Separation

RFID & Recycling What are the issues?  Corrugate, Carton Board  Clogging Filters, Residual Silver in Cellulose  Plastic  Degrading all recycle plastic to park benches  Glass  Silicon stones start cracks, Cu fouls furnaces  Steel  Cu/Al degrade the quality of scrap metal  Aluminum  Little concern, especially with Al antenna

RFID & Recycling What does the RFID Industry want relative to Recycling?  Create no negative impact on present recycling  Provide recycling improvement if possible  How are some in the RFID Industry achieving this?  Use waste stream subject matter experts – trade association  Work a waste stream before tags are prolific  Keep the regulators informed

RFID & Recycling Process Being Practiced by AIM 1.Theoretical Assessment of affect on present recycling processes 2.Pilot testing that present/proposed processes are sufficient. 3.Draft guidelines for tagging and waste recycle entities. Submit to a knowledgeable 3rd party to validate 4.Submit the 3rd Party reviewed guidelines to the EPA for approval 5.Issuance of guidelines to the RFID tagging community 6.Have some entity certify that particular RFID tags meet the guidelines 7.Ask the Fiber Box Association for their study as the best example

RFID & Recycling  Are RFID Components eWaste?  Readers and Printers Are eWaste  Local Disposal Regulations  WEEE - RoHS  Passive Tags Generally Are Not eWaste  Local Disposal Regulations  direct landfill  thermal recycling with energy and constituent recovery, landfill ash  mechanical/chemical separation for constituent reuse  WEEE

RFID & Recycling  Can RFID Tagging Improve Recycling?  Mixed Consumer Waste Separation  Waste Stream Identifier  Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in the European Union (WEEE)  Restriction of Hazardous Substances (addendum to WEEE) (RoHS)  End of Life Vehicle (ELV) in the European Union  Home Electronics Recycling Law (HERL) in Japan  Extended Producer Responsibility Program(EPRP) in Korea

Angela Leith  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Clarke McAllister  ADASA  RFID Tags in OCC*  The Future of OCC Recycling  Future Value of Tagged OCC  Action Items *OCC = Old Corrugated Cartons

Old Corrugated Cartons (OCC) 1.Internationally traded commodity. 2.Worth $40 to $60 per bale for the fiber. 3.Worth an additional amount for the RFID tags. OCC bales contain up to ~1000 tags.

The Future of OCC Recycling  Problem: Billions of valuable RFID tags will be wasted:  Filter Screens  Sludge (Solid Waste)  Effluent (Liquids)  Cumulatively into paper products  Solution: A fifth vector – Recycled RFID Tags

Ten-Year OCC Futures Model Conclusion: The total value mined from OCC bales will increase for ADASA-licensed paper mills.

Realizing the Benefits of Tag Reuse  You don’t have to waste billions of RFID tags  Consider buying recycled RFID tags  Provide tag passwords to authorized tag recyclers

Questions?

Thank You!