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RFID

Integrating RFID Technology intoWaste Management OperationsKen Lynch

What Would you do if you kneW of an  

innovative technology that could be implemented

throughout many waste management processes? One

that could improve the eciency o your hauling feet

and sta, help reduce pollution and return higher prots?

Well, it’s here and i you haven’t already considered it,

now is the time. With signicant advancements realized

over the last several years, radio requency identication

(RFID) is nding its way into a greater number o transportation and logistics operations, including many

in the waste management market.

While the early hype about how RFID would transorm

the supply chain and make out-o-stock problems a thing

o the past has been quieted, many industries and markets

are now adopting RFID-enabled solutions to create a

competitive advantage. Over the past ew years, it has

been recognized that organizations wanting to improve

eciencies, enhance customer service and decreaseoperating costs can benet rom implementing auto-

identication and sensing technologies like RFID.

Most o us are amiliar with RFID being used or the

identication and tracking o assets. RFID technology

is deployed throughout many industries or just that—

identiying valuable assets and reporting their last “seen”

location. O course there are many practical uses o RFID

or tracking assets within the waste management market

including locating missing or stolen containers, but the

value oered by the combination o ruggedized ultrahigh-requency (UHF) RFID tags and in-vehicle RFID

readers doesn’t end there. By RFID-enabling hauling

vehicles, trash and recycling bins, and their acilities,

waste management companies can automate customer

billing data entry, streamline recycling programs, and

provide many new and enhanced services to customers.

Further, the integration o RFID with complementary

technologies like GPS, cellular and telematics systems

can, among other things, improve route planning andreal-time vehicle eciency monitoring.

A Technology EvolvedSo what’s dierent now versus the years o the Wal-

Mart RFID mandate? O all RFID and sensing technologies

available, the perormance o UHF Passive RFID (the same

technology mandated by Wal-Mart in 2003 and now rolled

out to support their retail foor inventory management) is

advancing phenomenally. Consider the ollowing: the read

range o passive UHF RFID tags has quadrupled in past

ew years, read rates have increased rom 200 to 1,200 tags

per second, and read accuracy is near 100 percent. The cost

o Passive RFID tags has also decreased by a actor o ve

over this same period.As the market evolves rom the use o one-size-ts-all

RFID readers toward highly integrated solutions, diverse

RFID reader orm actors becomes more important. Today,

small UHF RFID modules are being embedded into

mobile devices and a variety o stationary RFID readers

are available or enterprise, commercial and industrial

environments where high-perormance in a wide range o 

operating conditions is required.

More interesting than any standalone technology, is

the integration o multiple identication and sensing

technologies into a single device or solution. Combining

RFID, GPS, GPRS, cellular, Wi-Fi and other technologies

will allow everyday objects to deliver valuable data that

can be used or a myriad o new applications. Similar

to the widespread integration o GPS into today’s

commercial and consumer positioning solutions, RFID

can transorm markets and is a natural extension to many

waste management operations. Consider the ollowing

examples.

 Automation of Time-Sensitive Processes One o the most signicant benets that can be realized

by RFID-enabling a waste management operation is

process automation. For example, with RFID readers

integrated into trash hauling vehicles and RFID tags

applied to trash bins, many data collection processes can

be automated. This process results in reduced data entry

and reporting costs as well as more timely and accuratecustomer billing. By providing real-time data, RFID

systems can also be used to enhance vehicle eciency

monitoring and improve route planning.

The bottom line is, by implementing RFID to

automate time-sensitive processes that are prone to

With data generated byRFID-enabled systems,waste haulers andwaste managementsolution providerscan benefit from

 a new degree ofmonitoring and

control of the

waste management

process.

24  WasteAdvantage Magazine August 2011

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©2011 Waste Advantage Magazine, All Rights Reserved.Reprinted from Waste Advantage Magazine. Contents cannot be reprinted without permission from the publisher.

igrg Rfid tcg Ws Mgm oprs

human error, waste management organizations can improve workfow and save

time and money.

 Asset Tracking As noted previously, asset tracking with RFID extends ar beyond identiying

and tracking lost or stolen waste containers. Need to know the location o your

truck parts and repair tools at the shop? RFID can be used or that too. Having

access to timely and accurate inormation about the location and status o 

critical assets such as tools and equipment are directly related to the successul

completion o a project and your bottom line. This can be achieved through

the implementation o RFID choke-points in dedicated areas, eeding specic

asset tracking applications, or by integrating RFID readers directly into yourIT inrastructure and IT systems or an enterprise-wide solution.

Recycling Programs Decreasing the amount o waste that households and businesses produce

and discard has become a worldwide ocus in an eort to reduce pollution and

conserve our Earth’s resources or uture generations. To achieve this, recycling,

resource conservation and pollution reduction programs o all kinds are being

implemented across the globe. Over the last several years, it has become

increasingly clear that the use o RFID technology can help streamline and

encourage participation in these programs.

Through the integration o RFID readers and weight sensors into vehicle

lit systems and RFID tags on the curbside recycling bins, waste haulers can

easily identiy bin ownership and combine data rom the RFID tags with the

bin weight to issue credits to participants based on the amount o recyclable

material they contribute. Program participants can cash in their credits at

national retailers or local businesses participating in the recycling program.Several recycling programs ollowing this practice have been implemented

worldwide and are gaining popularity.

Clearing Hazardous Debris RFID systems can be used to improve the collection, disposal and traceability

o hazardous or otherwise sensitive waste material. RFID tags applied to hauling

vehicles can provide both the unique identication o each vehicle in the feet and

can be encoded with each vehicle’s shipping data. Reading this data with xed-

position or handheld RFID readers can take the place o manually completingseveral orms. By using re-writable RFID tags, the same RFID inrastructure can

be used again and again to save time and reduce potential errors.

Not only does an RFID-enabled system help reduce the paperwork associated

with each shipment by automating data collection, but it also makes the overall

operation more ecient and helps those responsible or providing the saest

environment possible develop best practices that can be used or uture projects.

Smart Packaging Similar to the retail industry where source-tagging at the point o 

manuacture is driving eciencies throughout the entire retail supply chain,

innovations in smart packaging are being used to help reduce waste ar down

the chain. In addition to adding saety mechanisms such as tamper-proong

and providing the ability to measure the reshness o produce, inormation

rom RFID and sensor-enabled smart packaging can be used by to help sort

packaging materials in waste streams.

Waste management organizations can take advantage o this emerging trend

to dierentiate their service oerings and claim leadership among socially

conscious businesses.

New Degree of Monitoring and ControlWith data generated by RFID-enabled systems, waste haulers and waste

management solution providers can benet rom a new degree o monitoring

and control o the waste-management process. Fixed position and mobile RFID

readers uniquely bridge enterprise, yard and in-vehicle uses, and the integration

o multiple identication technologies such as GPS, GPRS, cellular, Wi-Fi and

RFID into a single device or solution allowing everyday objects like vehicles and

trash containers to deliver new, valuable data to a variety o unique and powerul

applications.

Ultimately, the RFID-enabled waste management solution architecture and

components will be determined by how customers want to realize value rom

location and auto-identication data. Visibility may be presented in distinct

dashboards—in-vehicle dashboards where real-time data oers value within

the vehicle or enterprise dashboards where historical and real-time data will be

managed at the enterprise level. Solution architecture may change with scale,

rom initial to ull-scale deployment, but by deploying standards-based RFID

products and solutions developed with fexibility in mind, the opportunities

seem limitless. The most important thing to understand is that the technology

itsel is no longer barrier to entry. | WA

 Ken Lynch is director of marketing at ThingMagic (Cambridge, MA), a Division

of Trimble. With more than 15 years of marketing and business development experience,

 Ken’s experience spans several dynamic and fast growing industries including RFID,

  Location Based Services, Wi-Fi, VoIP and video conferencing. He can be reached at 

(866) 833-4069, via e-mail at sales@thingmagic.com or visit www.thingmagic.com.

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