The
steel industry observes that RFID tags are being considered for
universal usage on steel packaging units (drums, cans, and other
vessels) and for the myriad of durable steel products in commerce,
ranging from subassemblies and parts within automobile and appliance
units, to the vast array of structural members and other
construction products for buildings and societal infrastructure.
Given the advance of such RFID technology into the marketplace, the
steel industry supports only those RFID tags, which use aluminum as
the antenna component. Such aluminum-based RDIF tags, when present
on steel components being recycled as end-of-life scrap, will have
no discernable effect on furnace operations or steel chemistry and
quality.
At the very high
temperatures of steel making, any incidental scrap aluminum from
such tags would be consumed in an exothermic reaction.
Conversely, RFID
tags with copper as the antenna component would be devastating for
steel recycling and the steel industry. Copper-based RFID tags in
the aggregate would quickly and adversely change the chemical and
structural properties of new steel and also negate its use for
future recycling consumption as end-of-life scrap. Excess copper
contamination in the melt causes new steel to be either softened or
embrittled, making it unusable for its intended purpose. This effect
is cumulative and irreversible. Massive influxes of new "virgin"
iron units from nature might be used to help dilute the deleterious
effects of copper in steel-making but this is not an option due to
the immense expense and associated environmental challenges. There
is no mythical Philosopher's Stone or modern economically viable
chemical process that readily removes copper once it is alloyed
within steel. The steel industry therefore cites the dire effects
of cumulative copper contamination and calls upon all government and
business entities to reject the development and use of copper-based
RFID tags on any and all steel products.
