Economic Inefficiencies in Circular Economy Training Markets: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Professional Development Investment Return
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64229/bkgtdk19Keywords:
Circular Economy Training Economics, Sustainability Investment Returns, Professional Development Market Failures, Ai-Enhanced Training Roi, Environmental Competency EconomicsAbstract
This analysis examines the economic inefficiencies inherent in contemporary circular economy professional development markets. Organizations invest substantial capital in training programs that yield credentialed practitioners lacking environmental competency and systems-thinking capabilities necessary for effective climate action implementation. Drawing upon fifteen years of cross-cultural sustainability consulting observations, this viewpoint employs economic analysis to examine circular economy training market failures, synthesizing evidence to propose transformative investment strategies. Current professional development programs function as credential mills extracting fees without generating competency, producing professionals engaged in sustainability performance while delivering minimal environmental returns on investment. Human-based traditional training creates cognitive biases and cultural barriers that reduce economic efficiency in environmental outcomes. Evidence suggests that AI-enhanced training systems provide superior returns on training investments through objective competency development. This represents the first comprehensive economic critique positioning current circular economy professional development as generating negative returns on environmental investments, proposing "sustainability performance professionals" as a market construct while asserting technological enhancement as economically necessary rather than optional. Organizations investing in traditional sustainability training generate opportunity costs and reduced environmental performance. Immediate action should focus on pilot programs for technology-enhanced training with gradual transition from conventional certification approaches.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Viraj P. Tathavadekar Nitin R. Mahankale (Author)
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