That is according to Circle Economy’s Circularity Gap Report 2026 report, which highlights how, for every €3 of economic value created globally, around €1 is lost due to resource inefficiencies, premature product disposal, and underutilised assets.
End-of-life product waste is losing €10.0trn in value, with consumption of fixed capital such as machinery and buildings costing €5.2trn, energy losses €8.7trn, processing losses €904.2bn, and food waste €650.7bn.
The report explains how “value loss is structural and systemic, not marginal inefficiency”, with losses stemming from the fundamental design of today’s linear economy that locks in resource extraction, asset underutilisation, cost externalisation, and waste generation at scale.
In a new blog, ISEP’s policy and engagement lead for circular economy and social sustainability, Agnes Chruszcz, praises the report for highlighting the sheer scale of value lost due to avoidable waste and inefficient material use.
“This framing speaks directly to finance ministries, treasuries and economic strategists who may have previously seen the circular economy as a sustainability side-project rather than a core economic strategy,” she writes.
“Closing the value gap is not only an environmental imperative but a major economic opportunity to build resilience and reduce missed social and economic benefits. It also has the potential to increase productivity and competitiveness at a time where resources and supply chains are strained.”
The report explains how structural value loss remains "largely invisible" in economic decision-making because indicators such as GDP do not consider retention or erosion, and therefore overlook resource depletion, waste, underutilisation, and stock depletion.
These losses reflect not only direct economic costs, but also hidden environmental and social burdens, including pollution, resource depletion, human health impacts and reduced labour productivity.
“This gap is not just a measure of loss – it represents an opportunity for circular interventions to retain more value, reduce waste generation, and strengthen long-term prosperity,” the report states.
It provides recommendations for businesses, financiers and policymakers, such as coordination beyond individual firms – including shared data and joint infrastructure – the reorientation of capital flows toward resource-efficient investments, and tax incentives for circular practices.
The report provides further evidence that "circularity is not a niche environmental concept, but a central economic strategy for the decades ahead", according to Chruszcz, who adds: "It has potential to support growth, strengthen communities and ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy is a more inclusive and economically robust one."
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Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of ISEP’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for ISEP members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.
