For more than 15 years, CompaRecycle has been advocating for a more local, transparent, and efficient circular economy in the tech industry. From pioneering white-label multi-buyer trade-in platforms in Europe to integrating AI-powered diagnostics and deferred trade-in solutions, the company has continuously positioned itself at the forefront of innovation in device recovery and resale. As the refurbished market enters a new phase of maturity driven by sustainability challenges, rising device costs, and increasing pressure on sourcing. CompaRecycle is expanding its ambitions beyond smartphones into PCs, Macs, and B2B ecosystems. In this interview, the company discusses the evolution of the trade-in market, the growing role of AI, and why local sourcing remains essential to building a truly sustainable circular economy.

1. After 15 years advocating for local trade-in ecosystems and short-circuit recovery models, how has the perception of refurbished devices evolved among both retailers and consumers?

Over the past 15 years, the refurbished market has evolved from a simple second-hand business into a structured industry now worth nearly $75 billion worldwide and more than $22 billion in Europe. When we started, nobody was really interested in trade-in programs: only the visible refurbished market was being highlighted, while the true raw material of the circular economy has always been sourcing. Today, trade-in has become a strategic lever for customer acquisition, loyalty, and purchasing power, which has also led to the arrival of many new players and much stronger competition in the market. And with rare resources becoming increasingly scarce — there are now more rare metals inside already manufactured devices than in some remaining natural reserves — reuse is no longer an option, but a necessity.

2. CompaRecycle positions itself as the first all-in-one platform capable of managing the entire trade-in cycle with a single partner. What operational challenges in the market were you aiming to solve with this model?

Since the creation of CompaRecycle, we have continuously innovated with one clear objective: encouraging consumers to resell and renew their devices in a more responsible way while maximizing their purchasing power — what we call “incentive-driven sustainability.” In 2011, we launched the first white-label multi-buyer trade-in platform in Europe, enabling telecom operators and retailers to automatically offer the highest buyback prices to their customers. On some operator accounts, we have increased the trade-in value by four respect to a mono trade-in player, simply by opening competition between buyers and centralizing the entire value chain: technology, logistics, finance, discrepancy management, and reporting tools.

We then expanded our platform to additional product categories before launching, four years ago, an innovative grading model based on a trusted third party to guarantee high buyback prices regardless of device condition. More recently, we integrated experts in finance such as Evollis and AI-powered diagnostics such as Pandas to deliver a unique market offering: discrepancy-free diagnostics, maximized trade-in prices, and deferred trade-in integrated directly into customer purchase journeys. Our objective has always remained the same: removing friction for operators, retailers, and end consumers in order to massively accelerate the circular economy.

3. Your deferred trade-in service allows consumers to purchase a new device while keeping their old one for up to seven days to complete data transfers at home. How important is flexibility and convenience in accelerating trade-in adoption today?

Once again, and with all humility, we worked for many months on this service specifically to remove a major barrier to purchase. Manufacturer trade-in bonus campaigns often trigger immediate impulse buying, but nearly 60% of consumers who had not yet transferred their data when entering the store would ultimately postpone both the purchase and the resale of their old device.

With our deferred trade-in solution, consumers can immediately buy their new device, directly deduct the maximized trade-in value as well as the current manufacturer bonus, while leaving the store with both devices: the old one and the new one. They then have up to seven days to comfortably transfer their data at home before sending back their old phone.

By doing this, we remove a major psychological and operational barrier to trade-in adoption. To date, we are the only company offering this type of fully plug-and-play experience directly integrated into the customer purchase journey.

4. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly central to device recovery and valuation. How does your AI-assisted trade-in solution developed with Pandas improve pricing accuracy, reduce discrepancies, and enhance retailer trust?

From day one, we strongly believed in the Pandas solution, which was truly ahead of its time in the market. In Europe, we have learned that when you introduce something disruptive, adoption can take time if you do not have the right political or historical network behind you. More than four years ago, when we first discovered the Pandas technology, we immediately pushed to integrate it with some of our trusted clients through several POCs, which quickly turned into real success stories.

The Pandas solution is impressive: it continuously learns, improves, and refines the accuracy of diagnostics. By integrating our platforms together, we managed to almost eliminate discrepancies while still offering maximized trade-in prices. With Pandas Vision AI and its tablet-based diagnostic solution, the experience becomes seamless and even spectacular: in less than three minutes, the sales advisor can guide the customer through the entire trade-in journey.

It is a true win-win-win model: operators and retailers are reassured because discrepancies virtually disappear, sales staff are relieved because they no longer need to negotiate device condition with customers — Pandas acts as a trusted technical third party — and consumers benefit from maximized trade-in values combined with a modern, smooth, and almost theatrical in-store experience.

5. CompaRecycle is now expanding into the PC and Mac categories across in-store, digital, and soon B2B channels. What opportunities do you see in extending circular economy models beyond smartphones?

The flagship category has always been smartphones, with enormous untapped potential: it is estimated that more than 600 million devices are sitting unused in drawers across Europe, with nearly 30% still having resale value. At the same time, we are seeing very strong growth in the trade-in and refurbishment of laptops, whether Apple devices or other major brands. Today, it is estimated that nearly 100 million PCs are stored in households and businesses.

With semiconductor prices continuing to rise, the cost of new devices will mechanically increase in the coming months, pushing both consumers and companies toward refurbished alternatives. This makes sourcing more critical than ever. At CompaRecycle, we are ready to absorb these volumes: we have developed a simplified trade-in journey to make resale easier, while relying on a network of well-established and trusted buyback partners to offer highly competitive trade-in prices and bring these unused devices back into circulation for a second life.

6. One of your long-term commitments has been reducing dependence on imported refurbished products through local recovery initiatives. How important is local sourcing becoming in the future of the circular tech economy?

We appreciate the recognition of this commitment because, more than just a strategy, it has truly been part of our DNA since day one. We have always resisted the temptation of working with players located outside European borders. We have sometimes paid a high price for this choice by voluntarily limiting the number of buyback partners on our platform to those we considered truly aligned with our values and vision, unlike some major international platforms whose main objective is to become global multinationals with buyers spread all around the world — a choice we respect, but one that is not ours.

For us, it is simply common sense. Why send a device around the world for a few extra euros when Europe already has a strong ecosystem of serious, professional refurbishers and buyback players capable of meeting high standards of quality and traceability? Local sourcing is essential to building a credible circular economy, reducing the real carbon footprint of refurbished devices, and preserving local jobs and expertise. It is no coincidence that we have been awarded the EcoVadis Platinum certification for several consecutive years.