End of life impacts of pervasive computing

The impacts of smart labels on waste management processes were evaluated by estimating the accumulating quantity of waste smart labels according to market analysis data and waste statistics. Furthermore the material composition of a self-adhesive high-frequency (HF) range radio frequency identification (RFID) technology was determined in a laboratory at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) and the impacts on waste management processes were assessed using descriptive methods. Focus was on item level tracking into the retail sector. Results show that the impacts of smart labels are twofold. One the one hand, smart labels induce new material flows into existing recycling loops and impact waste management processes. On the other hand, potentially valuable materials contained in smart labels would finally be disposed of in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plants and hence be irrecoverably lost.