Oct 15, 2009In anticipation of the widespread deployment of RFID technology to consumer applications, a new generation of passive RFID tags is being developed by Smartrac. According to the Dutch firm, the new tags will be almost completely biodegradable after use, in order to reduce waste, and be priced similarly to current non-biodegradable RFID tags. The first such products could be available within a year, the firm reports.
Smartrac's chief technology officer, Manfred Rietzler, says his company is developing the technology now because it anticipates RFID will soon be adopted in a range of new consumer applications, including ticketing and consumer packaging.
"Our target is to prepare ourselves for the time when RFID transponders will be embedded into more or less any consumer product," Rietzler says.
Amsterdam-based Smartrac—which has approximately 2,600 employees worldwide—currently manufactures RFID inlays used in passports and contactless credit cards, as well as RFID transponders for public transportation systems. The firm is leveraging its expertise in transponder design and manufacturing to develop the biodegradable product line.
RFID transponders are presently made of thin polymer substrates (such as PVC or PET films), a metal antenna and a silicon microchip. The current generation of RFID tags, Rietzler says, are not considered an environmental threat, and are as recyclable as most consumer packaging. The composition of a standard Gen 2 EPC tag is similar that of a potato chip bag, he explains, though he adds that the potato chip bag has 10 times or more aluminum than an RFID tag.
The new generation of tags will be completely composed of biodegradable components, except for the antenna and chip. The imperative driving the research and development of biodegradable tags, Rietzler notes, is the technology's potential ubiquity in the near future.
The first line—anticipated for consumer products and other applications where longevity and robustness are important—will use biopolymer materials, and could have an active lifespan of several weeks or months before decomposing. Rietzler declines to provide additional information regarding the materials or processes his company is considering.
Some of the potential applications envisioned by Rietzler include verifying the legitimacy and safety of goods, tracking logistics in warehouses and identifying checked-in airline luggage.
The second line of transponders will employ paper-based materials for the substrate that could decompose within a matter of days. The antenna and microchip will be made from conventional materials until Smartrac can determine whether it is possible to produce biodegradable chips to substitute for silicon versions.
The paper-based RFID tags would likely see wide usage in ticketing applications (including events and public transportation), have a lifespan of a few hours or days, and decompose quickly upon becoming wet.
The passive transponders being designed for ticketing applications will operate at 13.56 MHz, the company reports, with a goal of achieving an industry-standard read range of 10 centimeters (4 inches). For consumer product applications, the tags will operate in the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) band (900 MHz), and should be readable from up to a distance of 10 meters (33 feet).
The tags are being developed by Smartrac's internal research team, in cooperation with two unnamed universities, including one in Thailand. Rietzler says Smartrac is currently in talks with suppliers in the United States and Japan for materials, though he declines to provide further details regarding the project's partners. The research, he notes, is proceeding smoothly.
"One of the major priorities is that reliability and other factors, like read range and frequency stabilities, are not affected," Rietzler says. "The core of our research will be to make sure the biodegradable transponders work as well as the regular products."
The first fruits of the researchers' efforts could reach the market within a year, though Rietzler says it is too early at this juncture to discuss specific timelines. The new products, he indicates, would be comparable in cost to existing RFID tags.
"The expectation is that there will be no major price difference, and Smartrac's motivation for this is not to produce an expensive product," Rietzler explains. "The motivation is that we want to take a leading role, and might be able to gain a competitive advantage by offering a green range of products."
