EPC Electronic Product Code: Connecting to a Sustainable Future

EHP 111-9, 2003: Connecting to a Sustainable Future

... "Before the end of this decade, there will be an Internet of things. The Auto-ID Center, a partnership of almost 100 global companies and 5 of the world's leading research universities, is developing a global infrastructure that will allow computers to identify any object anywhere in the world instantly, through the use of radio-frequency identification tags. Every product, and even individual parts, will have its own unique identity (an electronic product code, or ePC) burned onto a tiny microchip equipped with an antenna.

A global computer network, layered on top of the Internet, has been developed to coordinate and process the mountains of information this system will generate. For business, radio-frequency identification tags will revolutionize management of the supply chain, eliminating all guesswork from inventory control, allowing precise fulfillment of demand, and facilitating optimized cradle-to-grave tracking of products, including recycling and refurbishment. Observers are optimistic that the system will generate substantial environmental benefits as well. Obviously, massive potential gains in efficiency could eventually translate into massive energy savings. " ...