Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, Vol.33, No.4, 406-417, 2019
Circular economy in RFID technology: analysis of recycling methods of RFID tags
Circular Economy (CE) is one of the approaches which are intensively developed and tested in different areas of industry and services. The aim of this solution is to use many kinds of resources in a closed flow and to achieve as a small amount of waste as it is possible.One of the potential areas of using CE is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). In RFID systems tags are utilized in various forms. This paper addresses investigation of a recycling process of RFID tags. Different attachment methods of these tags were tested and then, a recycling procedure was prepared based on the obtained results in which adhesives are recommended to be used as an attaching material between a tag and an identified object. The mentioned procedure was evaluated with using paper-face RFID tags. It was confirmed applicability of the proposed solution. Moreover, the conducted research revealed that an adhesion force of the adhesive layers in the prepared RFID tags decreased in the most extent during the first recycling cycle. It was found that in order to preserve a high adhesion force of these layers it is suggested to place the tags on a clean surface.
Keywords:Zero waste economy;recycling cycle;radio frequency identification;mechanical force measurements;multiuse RFID tags