Our founders frequently encountered situations where they couldn’t utilise product warranties when they needed them most. The time lapse between purchase and the point of need often spanned years, during which receipts were easily forgotten, lost, faded, or difficult to find—whether physically or digitally stored. As a result, the product’s guarantee or service promise was often inaccessible. Conversations with family and friends revealed that this frustration was widespread, highlighting a clear need for a better solution. 

Thus, FullCircle.eco was born! An app designed to store digital copies of key product and service warranties and contracts, enabling consumers, professionals, and businesses to record important purchases and utilise associated warranties whenever and wherever needed.

With professional focus on Sustainability at Financial Institutions, our co-founder was also introduced to the concept of Circularity, often associated with the 3Rs: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Recognizing that most CO2 emissions related to many products (e.g., electronics) occur during manufacturing, our founders realized that warranties represent a part of the “Reduce” aspect of Circularity. By availing warranties, users could reduce the need to buy new products, thereby avoiding new emissions. This would also reduce the need for mining virgin metals, impacting biodiversity and natural habitats, and decreasing waste and pollution.

In conversations with experts focused on Circularity, our founders noted a significant focus on plastics but relatively less on electronics or e-waste. E-waste, or Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE), has been identified by the WHO as the fastest-growing waste stream. According to UN data, the world generated 62 billion Kg of e-waste in 2022, equivalent to approximately 7.8 kg per person. Alarmingly, only 22.3% of this was documented as properly collected and recycled, posing both a health and environmental hazard and a lost economic opportunity. E-waste contains toxic additives and hazardous substances like mercury, which damages the human brain and coordination system. An estimated 50 tonnes of mercury—used in monitors, PCBs, and energy-saving light sources—are contained in undocumented flows of e-waste annually.

The low recycling rate also means that valuable materials such as gold, silver, copper, and platinum, valued at around $ 91 billion, were mostly dumped or burned instead of being collected for treatment and reuse. With e-waste expected to reach 82 billion Kg by 2030 due to higher consumption rates of electronic equipment, short life cycles, and limited repair options, the need for a solution is urgent.

While FullCircle.eco initially focuses on warranties (i.e., Reduce) and targets electronics, it can also be used for non-electronic items. In the near future, FullCircle will expand to emphasize “Reuse” and “Recycle,” completing the circle and providing a comprehensive tool for a circular economy.

Our name FullCircle is a tribute to Circularity.

The “Circle” signifies the closing of the loop that keeps products and materials in circulation for as long as possible, slowing its travel along the loop, while also increasing the number of loops taken. As far as shapes go, the concept might just as easily be conveyed as a square or other closed shape.

The “Full” signifies that all materials (Biological and Technical) used in products should ideally fully return to their original state – Carbon for Biological (e.g. cotton in T-shirts, or food waste) and Mineral for Technical (e.g. rare metals in mobile phones). The “Full” is also meant to convey that Circularity isn’t just about Recycling, which it is most commonly associated with, but also the more valuable steps of Reducing (preventing purchases), and Reuse of products to extend their life (through Repair and Refurbishment).

It also helped that a FullCircle is evocative of the Zero, or Net Zero emissions that we need to get to as a planet.