Design Life-Cycle

 Cheryl Cai

Michelle Gore

DES 40A

Professor Cogdell

Tile Bluetooth Tracking Device Life Cycle

In our world where technology increasingly dominates our lives, it’s almost as if we can’t live without our devices, as they provide us everything at the convenient touch of our fingertips. When we rely on technology so much, we often times we forget simple things like grabbing our keys while walking out the door or leaving your wallet inside your car. To this problem is an innovative solution: the Tile bluetooth tracker, a new piece of technology that has changed the lives of many. The Tile tracker is a small portable device that users attach to their important items such as their wallet, keys, or even sentimental items like a child’s favorite teddy bear. Regardless of what items it’s attached to, it allows a user to be able to track a lost item, play noise to locate it, and most importantly it also gives users a peace of mind with their important belongings. The brand is welcoming and technologically advanced, targeting families and tech connoisseurs, making the brand unique and widely used. So what goes into a tile that makes it so unique? In this paper, I look into the materials found in a Tile and break down it’s life cycle from where the materials are sourced to where they’re disposed. Through my research, its apparent that the materials found in a Tile bluetooth tracking device breaks down into three main components. This paper analyzes the life-cycle processes through which these specific materials are sourced and disposed, and explores how they work together in the Tile tracker making it versatile yet powerful.

The largest and most obvious component of the Tile tracker is its plastic casing which provides durability and aesthetics, however, it contains many compounds and chemicals that could harm the environment in different ways. In the Tile, its plastic case is unique among its competitors in the bluetooth tracker industry as it’s waterproof and firmly sealed. This provides a new aspect of weatherproofing, preventing the device from breaking down when encountered with liquids. Generally, plastics are based off the carbon atom, along with elements like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and other organic elements. Since plastics are made from organic materials, they’re derived naturally from the ground mostly in forms such as coal, oil, and gas. These are non renewable materials, which are harmful in multitudes of ways. First of all, they’re a limited resource meaning that eventually its supply will diminish. Additionally using non renewable materials to create plastic emits many toxins, including an abundance of carbon dioxide. Although plastic may not be the most environmental material to use, it’ll be difficult to find a replacement materials that have the same advantages as plastic but sourced in a less environmentally damaging method.

The plastic found in Tile is a thermoplastic. Thermoplastics have a chemical structure that enable melting and cooling, meaning it softens and becomes malleable upon heating and hardens when cooled. Although through my research, I couldn’t determine exactly what kind of plastic Tile uses, thermoplastic is the most common type of plastic that is found to create casing for most small electronic devices and is what is most likely what is found in Tile. 

The structure of most thermoplastics include polymers, which can be broken down and reformed. Although not the most structurally strong plastic, it’s recyclable, still relatively sturdy, and high quality. The most common thermoplastics are made from four main monomers: ethylene, propylene, styrene, and vinyl chloride. The method and materials to make Tile plastic is likely as follows. A mixture of polymer resins, colorants, and additives are blended in a large, uniform batch. This melted plastic mixture is poured with high pressure into a mold to ensure that no air bubbles will be left. Here, it’s cooled and takes the desired shape. Since this plastic can be melted and reformed, the plastic used in Tile can be recycled and repurposed. 

The Tile tracker has a Piezoelectric Speaker system which uses an electric force to generate stress in the form of sound. This system is comprised of piezoelectric material, usually ceramic, and a metal diaphragm. Piezoelectric speakers are generally found in small electronic devices, where an audible beeping sound is caused by rapid vibrations made from piezoelectric film. In the Tile, this speaker system is utilized to help users locate their lost devices. As mentioned before the speaker is comprised of a ceramic disk centered on a metal, usually bronze or copper diaphragm. When a voltage is passed into the metal, it contracts, rapidly bending the ceramic disk, emitting the noise.

The ceramic from the speaker is a hard, brittle materials made of natural ingredients from the ground. Typically, ceramics are made through intensely high heat, allowing it to set. There are two kinds of ceramic: a simple clay, and an advanced ceramic. The more commonly known ceramic is the simple clay. They’re made of inorganic, non-metallic compounds found in the earth, which can be sourced almost everywhere where there is a clay layer in the ground. Another form of ceramic is called Advanced Ceramic, which is made from oxides or non-oxides. Advanced ceramics have a wide range of use, from everyday items to medical instruments. Although through my research I was unable to determine exactly what specific type of ceramics are used in Tile trackers, I assume it is an advanced ceramic, as they are more often found in electrical devices.

The other part of the speaker is the metal diaphragm. A diaphragm is similar to a drum, where it can bend or contract to cause vibrations. This is commonly made from copper or bronze, which are naturally occurring heavy metals that can mined wherever they are found. The diaphragm is made by melting the metal and then shaping it into a small, thin sheet. Because metals can be melted and hardened, technically this part of the speaker is recyclable and reusable.

The lithium battery, made from various metals, is what allows the Tile to perform, however, it’s also ultimately the reason why most Tiles end up needing to be replaced. The specific battery in the Tile is a standard lithium cell 2032. Discovered in the 1970’s, lithium batteries became popular as scientists discovered that lithium is not only the lightest metal, but also has the greatest electrochemical potential which can provide the greatest specific energy per weight making it the most optimal element for storing energy. There are two parts to a battery: the cathode and the anode. In lithium batteries, the ions run from one end to another to release energy. The battery in Tile most likely contains lithium manganese dioxide chemistry as it’s the most common ingredient in lithium batteries, dominating the market. 

Some materials found in the battery other than lithium includes metals like aluminum and copper. The balance of materials in each battery needs to be precise to prevent overheating and short circuiting. Like other naturally occurring metals, these metals can be sourced wherever they are found and mined.

The battery in the Tile is non rechargeable and non replaceable, which means that once used up, the tracker will not be usable anymore. This may be due to the waterproof feature of the tracker since charging the battery might cause leaks. Unfortunately the battery in the Tile only lasts one year. This isn’t very eco friendly as the Tile entire tile must be repurchased and replaced which means new materials for other parts of the Tile that did not need replacement. In fact, the company takes advantage of this. Tile offers a program called “reTile” where they replace the entire tracker every time the battery runs out for a discounted price. Although this business tactic is smart for the company, it produces waste that could have been prevented with a rechargeable battery. In the future I hope to see the company utilize wireless charging to combat this problem.

In my research I tried to focus on the direct materials needed in a Tile tracker and its sustainability. A few issues I see from my research is that I don’t know exactly what is found in a Tile aS the website was vague in specifics and did not highlight the materials they use. I had to resort to a tech review blog post where the writer physically opens up a Tile tracker and analyzes the materials. Although it was interesting directly seeing and observing the physical materials, it was not a scientific website or source. I also did not take into consideration of all the materials that are needed to build the tools and facilities of manufacturing such as stronger tools needed to melt and mold metals, plastics, and other materials. All in all, as any tech device, the tile uses lots of materials found in the earth bit goes through many steps of heavy processing for it to become the Tile as we know it.

This paper’s life-cycle analysis of the Tile tracker discussed how specific materials were sourced and disposed, and explored how they worked together. Through my research, its apparent that the materials found in the three main parts of a Tile bluetooth tracking device breaks down into a lot more than what it seems. Through this process of analyzing the Tile bluetooth tracking device, I realized the magnitude of materials and energy it takes to create a device like this. I can’t help but to self reflect on the items I use everyday and how much went into each one. Nowadays, individuals own so many electronic devices and to many people a Tile could just be another small device to have. It’s crazy to imagine the amount of energy and materials it would take to manufacture bigger items like a phone, a laptop or even a car or an apartment complex. And it’s even crazier to think about the total resources that went into all of the devices across the world. It seems like our technological advancements are a blessing and a curse.

Works Cited

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“Bluetooth Trackers: How It Works.” Chipolo, https://chipolo.net/en/blogs/bluetooth-trackers-how-it-works.

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Daniel, Claus. “Lithium Ion Batteries and Their Manufacturing Challenges.” The National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Engineering, 23 Mar. 2015, https://www.nae.edu/134258/Lithium-Ion-Batteries-and-Their-Manufacturing-Challenges.

Jerew, Benji. "Lithium Ion Battery Production Has Unhealthy Effects, EPA Study Shows." Green Optimistic. N.p., 4 June 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.

Kissiah, Michael. “Tile Item Tracker - A Review of the New Bluetooth Tracking Device.” Private Investigator and Investigation Resources, Brandy Lane Publishing, 5 Feb. 2019, https://www.einvestigator.com/tile-item-tracker-a-review-of-the-hottest-new-bluetooth-tracking-device/.

King, Hobart M. “Quartz.” Geology, https://geology.com/minerals/quartz.shtml.

Martínez, Javier F. High-Fidelity Piezoelectric Loudspeaker. University of Southampton, 2014, High-Fidelity Piezoelectric Loudspeaker.

“Plastics.” How Plastics Are Made, plastics.americanchemistry.com/How-Plastics-Are-Made/.

"Understanding Lithium-ion." Lithium-ion Batteries Information. Isidor Buchmann, 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. <http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/understanding_lithium_ion>.

Udanis, Alex. “Teardown Tuesday: Bluetooth Trackers.” All About Circuits, 2016, https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/teardown-tuesday-bluetooth-trackers/.

“What Are Ceramics?” Science Learning Hub, 27 Apr. 2010, https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1769-what-are-ceramics.

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Michelle Gore

Cheryl Cai

DES 40A

Professor Christina Cogdell

4 December 2019

Tile Mate Embodied Energy

Smart technology has become a rising industry as it becomes more integrated into our everyday lives. People often lose things, leading to a rise in the market for technology and products that help track down misplaced items such as Apple’s Find My iPhone service, Android device manager, and even GPS pet tracking devices. Among these products is the Tile Mate, a tracking device developed by Tile that uses BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and an app to form a radio-based link between your phone and the item to help you find your personal belongings. It works by attaching it to an item and locating it by sound, by seeing its last known location on a map on the app, or by marking it as lost and getting an alert when it is found. It can be used to keep track of phones, tablets, keys, wallets, backpacks, and more. With consumerism comes production models that may not be environmentally friendly, however through my research on the lifecycle of the Tile Mate, I have found that the company has taken efforts to be more sustainable in the embodied energy of the process by encouraging users to be aware of their replacement programs, using energy-efficient manufacturing methods, and minimizing harmful battery disposal.

The Tile Mate has become one of the most highly rated and commonly used bluetooth tracking device products, and holds the title as the #1 best seller on Amazon. Tile has the biggest Bluetooth-tracking smart network and has sold over 15 million units as of September 2018 and makes up 90% of retail distribution (Newman). It is important to study both the environmental and social impact that the Tile has made, as with higher production means a higher impact on the environment. There has not been any academic research done on the Tile Mate specifically, but there have been studies done on the parts that make up the product such as the lithium ion battery and the manufacturing process. The more we learn about these processes and the embodied energy of these processes, the more mindful we can be about how we choose to use these products. The Tile company teaches how we can actually do that, and although the product itself cannot be completely environmentally friendly, there are steps that we can take as consumers to be more eco-friendly.

The Tile Mate is comprised of four main components: the plastic shell, battery, speaker, and bluetooth transceiver (Udanis). The raw materials acquisition needed for the product is a high energy-consuming process as there are many different components that make up the tile. The plastic encasing is made of thermoplastic, which is manufactured from raw materials including polymer resins, colorants, and additives. Plastic does not occur naturally, requiring manufacturers to have to create artificial polymers from petroleum, or crude oil. To extract the oil, several wells are drilled and then extracted using water or gas pressure systems and separated by liquids and gases. Then the oil is transported via a pipeline to an oil refinery, heated up to hundreds of degrees, and then sent to a fractional distillation column that separates the oil’s thousands of components using condensation or boiling-point techniques. In order to use this oil for plastics, it must undergo cracking, which is the fragmentation of the hydrogen molecules to make it easier to process. The raw materials are blended together by exacting standards to ensure that the batches are uniform and consistent, and then are heated and pressed through an extrusion die to create a thermoplastic sheet. When thermoplastic is softened by heat, it can then be shaped. Thermoplastic usage is expected to grow, because of its continued opportunities for both process and product innovation with a strong focus on the recycling of this material. The lithium ion battery is outsourced and sent to Tile. The shipping and handling process is extremely important, as the temperature and pressure has to be regulated. Many of the other parts of the Tile is outsourced to other companies as well including a light emitting diode and wireless signal sensor. The metals within the chips and circuit boards of the Tile need to be small pieces in order to build them. All these parts are distributed and processed all over the world and must be shipped to the Tile manufacturer which requires a lot of energy.

The Tile manufacturing process uses injection molding and ultrasonic welding to an injection molding process for consistent quality of products and are energy efficient. In injection molding, thermoplastic sheets are fed into a hopper and then into an extruder. The extruder pushes the plastic through a heating chamber where it is melted, and then forced at high pressure into a closed cold mold. The process requires extremely high pressure in order to ensure that the mold is completely filled. The mold opens after the plastic cools and the finished product is ejected. Ultrasonic plastic welding then joins the thermoplastic using heat generated from high-frequency mechanical motion, which is done by converting high-frequency electrical energy into high frequency mechanical motion (Hamman). The mechanical motion combined with applied force then creates frictional heat at the plastic joint area. The plastic melts and forms a molecular bond between the parts, which Tile does to ensure that all the parts are sealed and waterproof. This process is much faster than other methods, is mostly automated and is performed by machines and robotics that a sole operator can manage, and hardly requires work post-production. It is an environment-friendly process as the scrap plastic generated during the process is reground and re-used, generating very little waste (Park). Ultrasonic welding is a fast, clean, efficient process that produces strong bonds while consuming very little energy. It requires no solvents, adhesives, mechanical fasteners, or external heat, and part assembly cycles occur quickly because the energy transferred to the joint and released as heat happens quickly, and makes it much faster than other methods of assembly. Ultrasonic welding is an economical process that significantly increases production while lowering assembly costs (Daniels). The chips and circuit boards within the Tile uses a significant amount of energy due to the small size and the precision required in order to produce them.

As for the energy consumed during the distribution and waste management of the Tile product, Tile currently sells their products both online and at retail stores in over 230 countries and territories. There is no report of how Tile ships out its products, so assuming the they are shipped via truck and plane across the world. This requires fossil fuels to transport the Tile to carrier facilities, to retail stores, and to the consumer’s residence. 

Once the Tiles are in the hands of the consumer, The Tile can run one full year with zero upkeep, and so within that year battery replacement and charging is not necessary. This means that during its usage, no further energy is required. As it only needs one battery a year, it keeps more batteries out of landfills compared to other products where batteries have to constantly be replaced. Tile has a program called reTile where after a year, customers can choose to replace their old Tiles and upgrade to a new one at a discounted rate. However, even through these efforts, it still has an impact on the environment. Old Tiles must be taken to an e-waste center and cannot be disposed of or recycled at home. Nearly 75% of old electronics continue to be stored in households because there are no available and convenient recycling options (Jerew). To make recycling more accessible, Tile partnered with Total Technology Results to feature their database in the Tile app to see a list and obtain directions to e-waste recycling centers nearby. On the bright side, Tiles are actually made of 99% recyclable material, which would be beneficial to the environment if they are disposed of correctly. Only 20% of global e-waste is recycled, and the other emaining 80% is often incinerated or dumped into landfills (Jerew). By recycling Tiles, they are kept out of landfills, which is especially important because these electronics contain hazardous substances such as heavy metals that should not be dumped into the environment. E-waste contains precious metals that are estimated to between 40 and 50 times richer than ores mined from the earth, according to the United Nations. These recycled components can be used to make other products. But, this also means that consumers must use more energy and fossil fuels, leading to more pollution in order to drop off the old Tiles at an e-waste center and for the company to deliver replacement upgraded Tiles.

In my research, I focused on the main parts and processes that Tile themselves use directly and therefore I did not cover all the materials and processes that are used in the entire life cycle. Not all the sources I found and used are completely scientific, as there are no official reports or studies on the manufacturing process of the Tile. The company does not have any publication of materials they use in their products and no details of what goes on within the factory to produce them. For an example, there is no finding on what material Tile uses for its casing, however I found that in their process they use injection molding which through my research I found that thermoplastics are most commonly used. 

Smart technology has become ubiquitous as it continually improves our quality of life. Although Tile is an amazingly helpful product and as much as the company has taken efforts to minimize its energy usage, the embodied energy of its life cycle is still harmful to the environment. Through my research it completely surprised me that although the company has taken such strides and efforts to minimize damage, through replacement programs, using recyclable materials, and using energy-efficient manufacturing methods, it is still not enough. There are many ways that we can continue to be more environmentally friendly, and we must keep learning, building, and innovating towards that future.

Works Cited

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Mar. 2014.

Daniels, H.P.C. “Ultrasonic Welding.” Ultrasonics, Elsevier, 3 Oct. 2002, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0041624X65901691.

Hamman, Curtis W. “Energy for Plastic.” Energy for Plastic, 24 Oct. 2010, 

large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/hamman1/.

Jerew, Benji. "Lithium Ion Battery Production Has Unhealthy Effects, EPA Study Shows." Green 

Optimistic. N.p., 4 June 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.

LeBlanc, Rick. “Electronics Recycling and E-Waste.” The Balance Small Business, The Balance 

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www.thebalancesmb.com/e-waste-and-the-importance-of-electronics-recycling-2877783.

Newman, Jared. “How Tracking Startups TrackR and Tile Lost (and Found) Their Way.” Fast 

Company, Fast Company, 7 Jan. 2019, www.fastcompany.com/90285686/how-tracking-startups-trackr-and-tile-lost-and-found-their-way.

Park, Hong Seok, et al. “AI Based Injection Molding Process for Consistent Product Quality.” 

Procedia Manufacturing, Elsevier, 25 Jan. 2019, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351978918313593.

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