Circular Economy Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2025

The Circular Economy project represents an innovative approach in the insurance sector, transforming electronic waste into opportunities for social impact and sustainability. By redefining the life cycle of small electronic devices and appliances that are replaced after the extended warranty is triggered, this initiative ensures proper disposal of these items.

The proposal goes beyond mere waste elimination; it allows these products to be recovered, repaired, and resold, generating resources that are invested in vocational education for vulnerable people. This disruptive model minimizes environmental impact and redefines the role of insurers in society, promoting a true circular economy.

Zurich Insurance has a significant market share in the extended warranty insurance segment, which aims to extend the original factory warranty for home appliances, portable electronics, and electronic equipment. However, the high volume of insurance also leads to considerable environmental impact, as replacing broken items with new ones generates a significant amount of waste. It is important to note that often the unrecovered items remain with the customers, resulting in a loss of traceability and uncertainty regarding proper disposal.

A truly customer-centric company drives long-term value creation, and sustainability is an essential pillar to seize opportunities while managing risks.

The company's current sustainability strategy focuses on limiting global temperature rise to 2°C, promoting a low-carbon economy, and strengthening customer resilience, prioritizing the SDGs of Health and Well-being (SDG 3), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Climate Action (SDG 13), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). Circular Economy fits into this scenario and offers a sustainable and innovative solution that, while reducing negative environmental impact, promotes the reduction of inequalities.

Ultimately, this initiative is relevant to the insurance sector as it assigns value to items that previously had no commercial value, allowing them to be repaired and resold as refurbished products through reverse logistics. Additionally, this approach reduces the environmental impact generated by waste. This solution can be applied to other insurers with similar operations and even to companies in other segments that deal with electronic waste.

It is worth noting that Brazil is the fifth-largest generator of electronic waste in the world, with about 85% of Brazilians keeping unused electronic devices at home. In the insurance sector, replacing damaged items generates a large amount of waste, often without guarantees of proper disposal. Aware of this scenario, the company developed a reverse logistics model integrated with extended warranty insurance. With this initiative, customers can send dysfunctional products to a partner technical assistance center, which assesses the possibility of repair. Recoverable items are resold through an e-commerce platform, while unusable ones are disposed of correctly. All generated profit is redirected to social institutions that promote vocational education, creating a sustainable cycle of positive impact.