Press release

Long-term analysis: Environmental technologies defy market environment and enter IFAT Munich year with positive expectations for the future

January 8, 2026

Future Monitor: Long-term analysis evaluates exhibitor surveys from the last 13 years
Assessment of current economic situation has been increasingly critical since 2018
Exhibitors look with growing optimism at how the industry is developing

Even in challenging times, environmental technologies remain a reliable future market, according to a long-term analysis for which IFAT Munich evaluated exhibitor surveys from the past 13 years.

High resilience in dealing with global upheaval

The analysis illustrates how resilient the sector is in responding to external shocks. Neither economic fluctuations nor severe global crises such as the pandemic led to a sustained decline in future valuations. Although the industry has been increasingly critical since 2018 in its assessment of the current economic situation, companies still firmly believe that investment in infrastructure, resource efficiency and the circular economy will be continued or expanded in the coming years.

This perspective sets the trend for the upcoming IFAT Munich 2026 (May 4 to 7, 2026). After all, the focus of the world-leading trade fair is exactly where the industry sees its strongest future driver: in the transition from linear to circular value chain models. “Companies very clearly recognize that recycling, resource conservation and efficient infrastructures are not just ecological necessities, but rather economic and security policy imperatives,” says Exhibition Director Philipp Eisenmann. “That is also reflected in the extraordinary resilience and stability of future expectations over more than a decade.”

IFAT Munich 2026: Circularity is a must

With “Circularity is a must”, IFAT Munich 2026 is sending a clear signal: Circularity creates strategic supply security, reduces dependencies, and keeps critical raw materials in a closed loop system, while at the same time enabling new business models, innovations and value creation in future markets. In doing so, it combines ecological necessity with economic rationality – and shows that circular entrepreneurship is becoming a decisive success factor for competitive, resilient, and sustainably prosperous industries.

You will find more information about IFAT Munich at https://ifat.de