Integrating Chipless RFID Technology to Provide Seamless Data Interoperability for Textile Industry Circularity

Abstract

The textile industry faces tremendous challenges when it comes to waste management and recycling. The current methods for textile companies and drop-off centres for sorting the textiles for recycling is largely through manual labour, which is inefficient and involves high costs. The bottleneck due to slow process for visual inspection creates bottlenecks for effective sorting. One idea to solve this problem is to use an embedded data mechanism in textile tags via radio frequency identification (RFID) chips. Considering the requirements of recycling processes, there is an essential need for RFID technologies which are compatible with recyclability of textile processes. Therefore, the need and demand for a sustainable solution for traceability and recycling via chipless RFID technologies is highly motivated. Moreover, the technology should be economically viable for industries for adoption. This study explores a new technological concept that offers a solution for the current problem of creating a circular economy in the textile industry with traceability of data. So, the study focuses on analysing how chipless RFID technology may be integrated into textiles with 3D printing technology. The research investigates 3D printing technology for providing the ability to create a fast, inexpensive, and detailed chipless RFID labelling solution for textile materials. Finally, the paper investigates the consumer populations readiness to adopt the technology by identifying pain points and outlining the integration of this technology into the textile industry.