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The Future of Hazardous Waste Tracking: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Citation:
VARNER, K. E., D. KOPSICK, J. BEARDEN, R. Mollica, K. Krueger, E. Wood, S. Bhatia, C. Ives, P. Barlett, N. Kerr, R. Brackmann, R. Babilonia, AND S. Reid. The Future of Hazardous Waste Tracking: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Presented at 2008 Science Forum, Washington, DC, May 20 - 22, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation
Description:
The capability and performance of various RFID technologies to track hazardous wastes and materials (HAZMAT) across international borders will be verified in the El Paso, Texas-Ciudad Juarez, Mexico area under EPA's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV)/Environmental and Sustainable Technology Evaluations (ESTE) Program. The ETV/ESTE Program develops protocols to verify the performance of innovative technologies that have the potential to improve upon existing technology advancement while also protecting human health and the environment. The goal is to provide credible performance data for commercial-ready environmental technologies to speed the implementation for the benefit of purchasers, vendors, stakeholders and the public. The verification study will simulate the shipment of HAZMAT contained in plastic and metal drums and corrugated boxes through routine land transportation routes and across the international ports of entry at Santa Teresa, NM/Jeronimo, MX, addressing the concerns of tracking waste and alleviating traffic congestion and smog at our borders. RFID systems will be evaluated against identical verification scenarios, testing configurations, evaluation methods and measures to verify the system's ability to track HAZMAT traveling along a typical trucking route. Tags will be affixed to containers which will be packed inside a truck trailer. The information on the tag will transmit data at the: generator facility, U.S./Mexico border crossing, highway weigh stations, and entrance to the TSD facility. RFID system vendors will contribute the system components along with their technical expertise. Measured parameters include read accuracy at various read distances and aspect angles; the relationship of read rate to physical; and environmental conditions.