Are RFID tags the new chewing gum?

I appreciate that this is probably my first foray into Hyacinth Bucket territory, but I've noticed recently that there's been a new addition to the street litter here in Brussels. As the number of cigarette butts (and packets and plastic wrap) has considerably decreased there seems to be a new addition to the flotsam and jetsam - RFID tags.

To be honest, I hadn't really noticed them until one appeared on the floor just outside my front door, a small silver square, all computery-looking, and absolutely welded.

I tried using a stiff brush to get rid of it, then scuffing it with my foot. Eventually I had to get a wallpaper scraper from my toolbox to shift it - and still it was harder than getting gum off your shoe.

Since this one though, I've noticed just how many of these shiny squares are stuck around the place - I guess being abandoned from products that need to be used immediately or falling off of new sweaters. So is it just where I live, or are these things appearing everywhere?