Gatda, which operates Korea's largest AI environmental resource data platform "Bbaegi," and tech recommerce platform Bunjang announced Wednesday that they have begun collaborating to recycle unused smartphones. The two companies plan to promote a virtuous cycle of resources in daily life through joint app marketing that links the Bbaegi app with Bunjang's service.
Users can sell smartphones stored away at home directly to Bunjang through the "used phone price check and purchase linkage service" within the Bbaegi app. After applying to sell, users check real-time prices designed based on Bunjang's vast used trading data, then send and have their device inspected before receiving the purchase amount settled to a designated account—with the entire process handled one-stop within the Bbaegi app.
This collaboration carries significant meaning as the first resource recycling model combining an environmental resource platform's nationwide disposal infrastructure with a recommerce platform's pricing technology and inspection capabilities. Beyond simple used trading, the two companies aim to recover key mineral resources such as rare earths and permanent magnets from IT devices that could otherwise be discarded, contributing to carbon reduction and securing future resources.
Bbaegi is Korea's largest environmental resource platform, having signed agreements with about 90 local governments and secured 2.3 million cumulative subscribers and 430,000 monthly active users. Based on its own waste disposal infrastructure, 6 million unique data points, and AI object recognition technology, it connects consumers, companies, and local governments, reducing cumulative incineration of 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 4,500 tons of waste, and generating logistics and labor cost savings of approximately 210 billion won.
Bunjang is a leading Korean tech recommerce company that recorded annual transaction volume of about 1 trillion won, 25 million cumulative subscribers, and 10 million MAU as of 2025. Based on escrow-based secure payments, its "Corelytics" inspection system, "My Phone Price" service, and a partnership with Japan's Mercari, it is expanding a trusted used trading experience and a global resale ecosystem.
"The combination of Bbaegi's nationwide disposal infrastructure and Bunjang's data assets opens a new paradigm for everyday resource recycling," Gatda CEO Ko Jae-sung said. "It is meaningful to take the first step together in returning discarded future resources to society."
"Sophisticated pricing and inspection infrastructure meeting Bbaegi's disposal network will provide users with a convenient selling experience and society with an efficient virtuous cycle of resources," Bunjang Business Development Division Head Kong Yu-hyun stressed.
