One of the key principles of the circular economy is to generate value from waste, that is, to undertake processes to enhance the value of matter so that it remains within production and consumption cycles as long as possible. This principle opens up several research questions: what does it mean to generate value? What is value and which is its relationship to price? To address these questions, we present a critical analysis of the recycled polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET)‘s price and its value chain in Italy. Undertaking a price critical valuation means relying on an assessment of what the “real” price of the “thing” should be. In order to address this question, the price formation mechanisms and justification criteria for PET and r-PET provided by actors in the recycled PET supply chain have been explored. To test whether the price of r-PET, compared to the price of virgin PET, is able to carry the process of valuing the waste it incorporates, we explicitly focus on the social mechanisms that make sense of the respective prices of virgin and recycled PET and on the justifications given to these prices. The analysis has been grounded on the three key components of the commodity structure: qualification of objects, prices and value. The essay offers an insight about the concept of environmental cost to understand if and how these can help to build a better definition of asset valuation and valuation practices, in those case where monetary value is just one of the many possible forms of value attribution.