The Municipality of Tel Aviv has announced a cooperation with trade-in terminal manufacturer GET-RE, positioning the city as the first municipality globally to host automated smartphone trade-in infrastructure within a municipal building. The first GET-RE station is now operational at the central municipal offices, signalling a structural shift in how cities can engage directly in the secondary electronics value chain. By integrating device trade-in technology into public infrastructure, Tel Aviv is moving beyond policy support into practical deployment of circular economy mechanisms. The initiative reflects a broader evolution in urban sustainability strategies, where municipalities increasingly seek measurable pathways to reduce electronic waste and extend device lifecycles. Hosting trade-in terminals within municipal real estate introduces a public sector anchor to what has traditionally been a retail-led recommerce activity.
Scaling automated trade-in infrastructure
GET-RE’s terminals enable automated device assessment and trade-in, creating immediate liquidity for used smartphones while capturing devices for refurbishment and resale. The Tel Aviv deployment moves the model from retail-only environments into civic space, expanding consumer touchpoints and normalising participation in structured trade-in flows. The company is simultaneously expanding its European retail footprint. GET-RE terminals are currently installed in two Orange France shops in Paris and Lyon, in cooperation with Dipli, one of France’s largest trade-in enablement platforms. This dual approach, combining municipal and telecom retail channels, underscores the company’s ambition to build an interoperable infrastructure layer for device recirculation across multiple public and commercial environments.
Production ramps in Poland
Growing demand has prompted GET-RE to increase terminal production capacity in Poland. Units are rolling off the production line at Retail Robotics, indicating that the company has moved beyond proof-of-concept pilots into scaled manufacturing. The shift from limited deployment to structured production suggests rising institutional confidence in automated trade-in as a core enabler of circular electronics strategies. Industrial ramp-up also reflects broader market dynamics within the European secondary smartphone sector. As regulatory pressure intensifies around electronic waste reduction and right-to-repair frameworks, automated trade-in infrastructure provides a controlled intake channel for used devices. For refurbishers and recommerce platforms, reliable sourcing remains a strategic bottleneck. Municipal and retail-based terminals may help stabilise inbound volumes and improve grading consistency.
Urban real estate as circular leverage
By leveraging prime municipal real estate and its public reach, Tel Aviv is effectively transforming civic buildings into collection and value recovery nodes. The strategic significance lies in accessibility. Unlike traditional retail trade-in counters, municipal installations capture foot traffic linked to administrative services rather than purchasing intent. This expands participation beyond typical early adopters of refurbished and trade-in programmes.
From a circular economy perspective, embedding collection infrastructure within city administration aligns public sustainability commitments with tangible device lifecycle extension. Smartphones that might otherwise remain idle in households can re-enter refurbishment pipelines, extending functional use phases and reducing premature recycling.
From pilot to structural adoption
GET-RE frames the Tel Aviv deployment as the beginning of broader expansion. The company signals that additional stations are planned, reinforcing its ambition to build a distributed network of automated trade-in points across Europe and beyond. The language has shifted from pilot experimentation to infrastructure building, indicating maturation of the automated in-store trade-in segment. For the global secondary mobile market, municipal participation introduces a new stakeholder category into the sourcing ecosystem. Cities could become strategic partners in aggregating used device volumes, complementing telecom operators, retailers and enterprise fleet programmes. This diversification of intake channels strengthens supply resilience for refurbishers and supports the formalisation of device grading and resale standards.
The cooperation between Tel Aviv and GET-RE illustrates that the circular economy in electronics is increasingly operational rather than conceptual. With production scaling in Poland and deployments expanding across municipal and telecom environments, automated trade-in infrastructure is transitioning from innovation showcase to embedded urban utility. For industry participants, the development reinforces the importance of cross-sector partnerships in unlocking sustained device recirculation and measurable sustainability impact.
Market
Trade-in
Repair
Refurbishing
