CLOSING THE LOOP: THE INFLUENCE OF RECYCLING OF ETFE FOILS WITHIN THE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) APPROACH

Ultralightweight architecture is one opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint in the construction sector, which is responsible for more than 53% of carbon dioxide emissions as well as 30% of energy consumption worldwide (Sobek, 2022). Vector Foiltec has pioneered the worldwide application of ETFE-foils (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) in the Texlon (R) cladding system in facades and roofs since 1982 including the EDEN project, a well-known botanical garden in Cornwall (UK) by Grimshaw architects. To cope with the growing need for energy-efficient solutions in occupied buildings with ETFE cladding requires refurbishment. The refurbishment leads to an accumulation of used ETFE foils, which Vector Foiltec has committed to recycle after the use phase. In this manuscript the retrofit of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (London) after a service life of 33 years, in particular the recycling of the ETFE-foil will be investigated by the LCA approach according to indicators from EN 15804+A2 (CEN, 2019), the European standard for sustainability in construction works. In the calculation scheme, the environmental impacts will be modelled through four EoL (End-of-Life) scenarios 1) Incineration in Germany 2) Recycling in Germany 3) Incineration in the UK and 4) Landfilling in the UK to determine the impact of transport. The virgin ETFE-foil itself has an embodied energy between 210 MJ/kg - 337.5 MJ/kg (Monticelli et al., 2010;2017), it will be a deed of reason to recycle the valuable ETFE-foil as a secondary feedstock and re-use it for a new life as foils, valves and pipes in future projects, Furthermore, the conditions for optimal transport distances will be derived according to the latter standard, letting Vector Foiltec take the next steps towards closing the loop for ETFE.