Squandered fortunes?

Visual form

Stacked bar chart.

Layout / body structure

The page presents a single central chart, read top to bottom from the headline into the material breakdown and then down to the explanatory note.

What is being compared

The chart compares lost value across major industrial materials in Europe, especially aluminum, plastics, and steel, and ties that loss to missed recycling or downcycling outcomes.

Measurement system

The reader is tracking euro-denominated value and production-equivalent material volume, so the important units are euros and the implied share of current EU production that the lost material could supply.

Visible structure inside the graphic

The chart uses segmented bars or columns to separate the contribution of each material and to show how the overall value loss is built up across the different material streams.

Main takeaway from the visual

The visual makes the missed circular-economy opportunity tangible by showing that the value leaking out of the system is large enough to matter at industrial scale, not just at the margin.

Key standout values or extremes

The key values surfaced on the page are the EUR 78 billion of lost value and the estimate that these materials could supply 64 percent of EU production for the same materials today if they reached recycling facilities.

Controls / sequence, when applicable

This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.

Companion media, when applicable

There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.