Stora Enso unveils “world first” recyclable RFID tag for microwave-safe use

15 Apr 2021 --- Stora Enso is introducing a “world-first” recyclable RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) tag for microwave-safe use.

RFID technology is used in the food industry to automate processes, provide real-time “track and trace” functionalities, and support next-generation “unmanned retail.”

The new Eco Meal RFID tag is specially designed for item-level ready-meal tagging and tracking. The solution is the first paper-based RFID tag on the market for this specific use, says Stora Enso.

Unlike traditional RFID tags, Eco Meal labels do not need to be removed from the food package before microwave heating. The tags can also be recycled in paper recycling streams.

The patented label has been tested in TÜV Rheinland’s laboratory for microwave safety when attached to meal packaging.

Food waste-fighting RFID portfolio
Other tags in Eco RFID Food & Beverage Tag Collection include Eco Cap for plastic bottle caps, Eco Stripe for on-metal applications such as soda cans or packages with metallic layers, and Eco Hanger for carton and plastic packages.

Selected collection tags are also available with a unique expiry date feature, enabling retailers to identify items approaching their “best by” or “use by” date as a proactive solution to food waste.

When used together with Selfly Store by Stora Enso, it is possible to follow the expiry date of each item in real-time and get notifications of soon-to-expire products, helping retailers to react in advance with, for example, price discounts or special promotions.

Stora Enso says studies have found RFID tags can reduce food waste by up to 20% (Image credit: Stora Enso).According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted worldwide each year.

However, Stora Enso points to studies suggesting RFID can reduce food waste by up to 20 percent by accurately aligning inventory with variable demand, improving processes, optimizing production, increasing visibility of expiry dates, and facilitating food donations.

The tags are plastic-free, and no harmful chemicals like etching are used in their production.

Single-use benefits
Stora Enso and fellow fiber-based packaging leader Huhtamaki recently welcomed new scientific evidence finding paper-based single-use products more environmentally responsible than reusable tableware in European quickservice restaurants. 

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by Ramboll and released by the European Paper Packaging Association (EPPA) suggests these advantages are primarily driven by the carbon emissions related to the amount of energy required to wash the tableware and freshwater used in the washing process in a multi-use system.

For climate change, the single-use model generates significant benefits. In the baseline scenario, the polypropylene-based multi-use system was responsible for generating 2.7 times more carbon dioxide equivalent emissions than the paper-based single-use system.

In addition to climate impact and freshwater consumption, the LCA study measured environmental impact in fossil depletion, particle pollution, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, ionizing radiation, metal depletion and stratospheric ozone depletion.

Further categories where single-use packaging provided environmental advantages compared to a multi-use system were fossil depletion, particle pollution and terrestrial acidification.

Edited by Joshua Poole