Where Waste Finds New Life

By Atira Khalisha Nor Adnan

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 (Bernama) — To most people, old fabric and plastic waste are nothing but junk. But for Rebecca Becs Yau, they’re hidden treasures waiting to be reborn through creativity and craft.

Under her brand Ekha, the 45-year-old artist-entrepreneur has proven that sustainability and style can coexist. Her handmade creations have saved more than 2.2 tonnes of plastic waste and 0.6 tonnes of discarded fabric from ending up in landfills last year alone.

The idea first struck during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in 2020, when Yau noticed heaps of unused fabric in thrift stores.

“That’s when I thought — why not upcycle them instead of throwing them away? There was just so much waste,” she recalled. “We started with lanyards, and the response from corporate clients was amazing.”

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Soon, she turned her focus to single-use plastic, studying online videos on how to upcycle it into durable, stylish products like handbags.

Yau shared her journey with Bernama at RIUH X ASEAN 2025, held at Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur.

Beyond lanyards, her team produces pouches, handbags, wallets and keychains from used fabrics. Turning plastic into new material, however, requires time and experimentation — layering sheets of plastic with baking paper and ironing them into a strong, flexible surface.

It took Yau over a year to perfect the method.

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“We did a lot of trial and error to find the right number of layers for durability. In the beginning, I often burned my hands while ironing,” she said with a laugh.

With practice, she can now craft a 10-centimetre pouch in under 20 minutes.

Yau also works with single mothers and members of the deaf community, ensuring each piece is handmade without machines — a project that uplifts lives as much as it promotes sustainability.

The Kuala Lumpur native explained that her process can involve up to 250 layers of plastic, resulting in a material tough enough to carry up to 50 kilogrammes (kg).

Operating from her studios in Damansara and Langkawi, Yau keeps the original colours of the plastic, sometimes blending it with leftover fabric for added texture and charm.

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Waterproof and resilient, her creations — from beach totes to everyday accessories — are both practical and eco-friendly.

Most of her raw materials come from recycling centres, which collect and clean plastic waste before reselling it.

“We usually buy in bulk — a few hundred kilos at a time. For RM150, we can get about 200 kg of cleaned plastic ready for processing,” she said.

For Yau, every creation tells a story of renewal — proof that beauty can emerge from what the world throws away.

-- BERNAMA