Life Cycle Assessment of UHF and Chipless RFID

Abstract

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is performed to evaluate the environmental impact of chipless RFID using the standardized LCA method. This allows for a comparison of these impacts with those of UHF RFID and barcode technologies. Identification technologies such as RFID (UHF, HF) are intended to be disseminated worldwide to the greatest number of people and therefore to generate the use of a very large number of tags. Thus, several billion UHF and HF labels are produced per year. Insofar as the lifespan of these labels is short and therefore can be considered disposable components, it is vital to measure their impact on the environment. This is not only due to the growing concerns about global warming but also to explore alternatives to RFID tags that can help conserve resources and reduce pollution. This study allows us to evaluate the environmental impact and carbon footprint. The results of this research will provide new insights and suggest ways to reduce the environmental impact of the electronics industry.