TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Three college students frustrated with chasing garbage trucks turned the hassle into a business, founding Tracle to make waste collection smarter and more sustainable.
Launched in 2021, Tracle now serves more than 3,000 households across Taipei, New Taipei, and Taoyuan, per CNA. Its subscription model lets users book pickups through a website or LINE, with options from once to five times a week.
Before arrival, the system sends reminders. After collection, workers upload photos as proof, giving customers peace of mind that their trash has been properly handled.
The service quickly found core users: late-night office workers, busy new parents, and elderly residents. Partnerships with property managers have expanded its reach with shared waste solutions in rental buildings.
From the start, the team leaned on digital tools to refine operations. They first outsourced software development, then brought engineering in-house.
As demand grew, manual scheduling could no longer keep up. Tracle adopted AI algorithms to optimize collection routes based on subscriber density and user requests, cutting fuel use and emissions and slashing planning time from hours to seconds.
Funding was the biggest early hurdle. The founders bootstrapped until they secured support from the MOEA Service Industry Innovation Research program and a digital initiative by the Institute for Information Industry.
Co-founder Chen Ping-tao (陳稟韜) called these programs “growth accelerators,” crediting them with capital, mentorship, and connections.
From a garage project to a 15-person team, Tracle now handles over 15,000 orders per month. The company is exploring expansion into home cleaning and even long-term care services. For Chen and his team, digital innovation remains the foundation of sustainable urban living.
