At the end of this year, you will have created an estimated 1,788 pounds of waste. That’s piles of clothing, old electronics, toys, packaging materials, and more.

The vast majority of your trash—61.8%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency—will end up clogging a landfill or being incinerated, spewing carbon into the atmosphere. Part of the problem is that our government does not have the infrastructure to recycle many items.

But in the midst of these dire statistics, there’s a glimmer of hope. A startup called Trashie is on a mission to help you recycle a lot more of your waste. Launched a year ago, the company sells “Take Back Bags” for $20, which you can fill with 15 pounds of unwanted clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, and linens in any condition. (This includes items that can’t be donated, like old underwear and socks.) Trashie will painstakingly go through each item, deciding the best way to prolong its life, whether that’s recycling it into something new or sending it to someone who will actually use it. In exchange, you’ll get the equivalent of $30 in vouchers to be redeemed at dozens of brands, from Nike to Uber Eats to Grove Collaborative.

According to Kristy Caylor, Trashie’s founder, the business model works because it provides incentives to all parties involved: Customers get rewarded for sending in waste, brands see this as a marketing opportunity, and Trashie generates revenue. In a single year, Trashie has been remarkably successful, thanks in part to $13 million in venture capital funding to fuel its growth. It has sold more than 600,000 Take Back Bags across all 50 states, collecting more than 8 million items and diverting 4 million pounds from landfills. The company, which now has 28 employees, recently launched a “Tech Take Back Box” to........

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