Smart labels in municipal solid waste — a case for the Precautionary Principle?

The Precautionary Principle aims at anticipating and minimizing potentially serious or irreversible risks under conditions of uncertainty. Although it has been incorporated into many international treaties and pieces of national legislation for environmental protection and sustainable development, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental impact assessment review Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 567 - 586
Main Authors Wäger, P.A., Eugster, M., Hilty, L.M., Som, C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.07.2005
Subjects
Electronics industry
Environmental impact studies
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Environmental policy
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Hazardous waste
HEALTH HAZARDS
Information technology
LEGISLATION
Pollution control
Precautionary Principle
RECYCLING
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
RFID transponders
RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk management
Smart labels
SOLID WASTES
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Telecommunications industry
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste recycling
Smart labels
Waste management
Risk assessment
Precautionary Principle
RFID transponders
Recycling
Sustainable development
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Summary:The Precautionary Principle aims at anticipating and minimizing potentially serious or irreversible risks under conditions of uncertainty. Although it has been incorporated into many international treaties and pieces of national legislation for environmental protection and sustainable development, the Precautionary Principle has rarely been applied to novel Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and their potential environmental impacts. In this article we analyze the implications of the disposal and recycling of packaging materials containing so-called smart labels and discuss the results from the perspective of the Precautionary Principle. We argue that a broad application of smart labels bears some risk of dissipating both toxic and valuable substances, and of disrupting established recycling processes. However, these risks can be avoided by precautionary measures, mainly concerning the composition and the use of smart labels. These measures should be implemented as early as possible in order to avoid irreversible developments which are undesirable from the viewpoint of resource management and environmental protection.
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ISSN:0195-9255
1873-6432
DOI:10.1016/j.eiar.2005.04.009