The Circularity Gap Report 2026 introduces the idea of a global Value Gap: the avoidable economic value lost each year through linear, take–make–waste practices. It estimates that around €25.4 trillion is lost annually—about 31% of global GDP—through wasted materials, underused assets, and unpriced environmental costs.
According to the report, economies depend on materials, yet a large share of their value disappears at every stage of production, use, and disposal. Circle Economy and Deloitte estimate that value losses linked to linear material use reach €25.4 trillion (± €4.7 trillion) per year, compared with global GDP of €82.6 trillion. That means for roughly every €3 of value created, €1 is lost to linearity.
The report groups this loss into five pathways: processing losses, energy losses, food losses and waste, end‑of‑life waste, and the premature deterioration of fixed capital (buildings, infrastructure, machinery). Energy losses alone account for about €8.7 trillion, while end‑of‑life waste represents another €10 trillion in lost residual product and treatment costs.
For asset‑intensive enterprises, two messages matter. First, value loss is structural, not a marginal efficiency problem. Second, value loss is measurable, which means it can be managed. Circular strategies that extend asset lifetimes, retain functionality for longer, and reduce waste can directly influence this Value Gap. The full executive summary is available from Circle Economy at CGR 2026 – Executive summary and from Deloitte’s partners at The Circularity Gap Report 2026.
The Value Gap is often discussed at macroeconomic level, but a significant share of it flows through physical assets that facilities and maintenance teams manage every day. The report highlights consumption of fixed capital at around €5.2 trillion annually, capturing how buildings, infrastructure, and machinery lose productive value faster than necessary.
In practical terms, this shows up as equipment replaced years before its technical end of life, buildings renovated without reusing components, and infrastructure allowed to deteriorate due to insufficient maintenance. Each decision locks in new capital expenditure while writing off residual value that could have been kept in use through repair, refurbishment, or repurposing.
The same applies to energy losses. Inefficient HVAC systems, poorly controlled lighting, and unmonitored utilities contribute to the €8.7 trillion in energy losses the report describes. Facilities teams sit at this intersection of physical assets and resource flows, which means they are well placed to convert circular economy theory into operational practice.
When asset data is dispersed across tools, or maintenance strategies are mostly reactive, leaders cannot see where value is eroding. The Circularity Gap Report explicitly calls for coordinated action across value chains and better use of data to reveal structural value loss. For enterprise asset owners, a unified platform for asset, maintenance, and consumption data is becoming a strategic requirement, not simply an operational convenience.
The report defines four mechanisms driving value loss: mismanagement of materials, premature obsolescence, deterioration of long‑lived assets, and internalised environmental and social costs. Translating these into actions for maintenance and sustainability leaders leads to five practical levers.
First, extend asset life through planned, condition‑based maintenance rather than run‑to‑failure. This directly addresses the premature deterioration and obsolescence mechanisms. For example, shifting a fleet of air handling units from reactive repairs to condition‑based overhauls can safely add several years of service life, reducing both capital spend and embodied carbon.
Second, design and document for reuse. When components, materials, and sub‑systems are catalogued and traceable, they can be recovered at end of life instead of treated as mixed waste. This reduces the end‑of‑life waste pathway the report estimates at €10 trillion annually.
Third, improve energy performance at the system level. The report notes that the largest energy losses occur at end use, in buildings, transport, and industry. For facilities, this means using metering, monitoring, and automated controls to reduce non‑productive consumption across entire sites, not only at equipment level.
Fourth, align procurement with circular criteria: durability, reparability, availability of spare parts, and take‑back options. Instead of purchasing solely on upfront price, teams can integrate indicators such as expected lifetime and residual value into sourcing decisions.
Fifth, integrate ESG and value‑at‑risk metrics into asset and maintenance planning. The report underlines that conventional indicators ignore depletion of natural capital and many environmental costs. By linking asset strategies to emissions, water use, and resource circularity indicators, enterprises can see how closing the Value Gap also strengthens compliance and risk management.
Putting these levers into daily operations requires data, workflows, and governance that many organisations lack today. This is where Nextbitt’s platform is designed to act as an enabler for circular asset management across multi‑site portfolios.
Nextbitt centralises asset registers, work orders, and utilities data in one environment, allowing maintenance and sustainability teams to see how interventions affect both performance and resource use. By digitising asset histories, maintenance plans, and spare parts, teams can identify when repair or refurbishment is preferable to replacement, directly addressing the premature obsolescence highlighted in the Circularity Gap Report.
With real‑time monitoring of energy and water, facilities teams can identify anomalies early—such as abnormal baseload consumption or equipment drift—before they become structural losses. This contributes to reducing the energy losses pathway the report quantifies at €8.7 trillion annually by ensuring that buildings and infrastructure deliver useful services with less wasted input energy.
In addition, Nextbitt supports ESG traceability by linking operational data to environmental indicators. This helps enterprises respond to the report’s call for better information on value loss and externalities. When asset‑level data feeds directly into emissions and circularity dashboards, decision‑makers can compare scenarios: extending asset life through refurbishment versus full replacement, or retrofitting existing equipment versus investing in new systems.
The Circularity Gap Report emphasises that conventional metrics such as GDP overlook resource depletion, waste, and underutilisation. For enterprises, this translates into hidden costs and unrecognised risks that can weaken long‑term resilience. By quantifying avoidable value loss at nearly one‑third of global GDP, the report reframes circularity as an economic strategy, not only an environmental one.
For asset‑intensive organisations, the business case can be built around three pillars. First, financial performance: extending asset lifetimes, reducing waste, and cutting energy losses lower operating and capital expenditures over time. Second, regulatory alignment: as frameworks such as the EU’s CSRD require more detailed reporting on resource use and environmental impact, having integrated operational data becomes critical.
Third, systemic resilience: the report notes that high material dependency increases exposure to supply and price shocks. Circular practices—repair, reuse, and life extension—reduce reliance on virgin materials and fragile supply chains. When these practices are embedded in a digital asset management platform, enterprises can scale them consistently across portfolios rather than relying on isolated pilots.
For maintenance managers, facility leaders, and sustainability teams, the Value Gap can feel abstract. Turning it into action starts with a structured roadmap that connects high‑level insights from the Circularity Gap Report to concrete portfolio decisions.
A practical first step is to map where value is lost today across your asset base: premature replacements, frequent breakdowns of critical equipment, high levels of unplanned downtime, or persistent energy anomalies. Combining existing maintenance records with utilities data in a unified system provides this baseline.
Next, identify two or three categories of assets—such as HVAC, production machinery, or critical infrastructure—where life extension and energy efficiency can deliver clear financial and environmental benefits. Define pilot projects that use data‑driven maintenance, refurbishment strategies, and clear reuse criteria. Finally, ensure that these initiatives are measured not only on short‑term savings but also on avoided value loss over the full life cycle.
The Circularity Gap Report 2026 concludes that closing the Value Gap requires coordinated action across value chains, supported by better metrics and digital tools. By combining circular design principles with integrated asset, maintenance, and ESG data, platforms like Nextbitt give enterprises a practical way to translate that call to action into daily decisions, site by site and asset by asset.
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