Circular Valley Convention in Dรผsseldorf 11./12.03.2026
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ฌ. ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
Two days at the Circular Valley Convention in Dรผsseldorf made one thing clear: the technical foundations for circularity are largely in place. What is holding the transition back is far more stubborn: the economics.
The Circularity Gap Report states that circularity slowed down from 9.1% in 2018 to 6.9% in 2026. Not because innovation stopped. Because the incentives never caught up. Virgin materials remain cheaper. Circular business models still struggle to compete with linear alternatives. And the responsibility for closing that gap keeps moving around the system without ever being owned.
Across both days, industry voices acknowledged the same tensions openly: circularity cannot be a side project; it has to become the operating logic. Data needs to stay connected to materials across their entire lifecycle. Upgrading and extending what already exists is often more impactful than reinventing from scratch. And regulation alone will not create markets: demand has to be built through business models that make circular behaviour the economically obvious choice.
For industry professionals navigating these pressures daily, the message from Dรผsseldorf is both sobering and energising. The barriers are systemic, but so are the solutions. ESTAINIUM exists precisely to build the connective tissue that makes cross-industry action possible. Aligning members around shared infrastructure, shared accountability, and the kind of collaborative momentum that no single organisation can generate alone. The question is no longer whether to act. It is whether to act in isolation or in concert.