Under her brand Ekha, the 45-year-old is proving that sustainability and style can coexist. Last year alone, her handmade creations saved more than 2.2 tonnes of plastic waste and 0.6 tonnes of discarded fabric from ending up in landfills.
Yau came up with the idea during the Movement Control Order in 2020, when she 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. We started with lanyards, and the response from corporate clients was amazing,” she recalled.
Soon, she turned her focus to single-use plastics, studying online videos on how to upcycle it into durable, stylish products like handbags. Today, her team also produces pouches, handbags, wallets and keychains from used fabrics.
She shared that turning used plastic into new items requires time and experimentation, as it involves 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.
“We did a lot of trial and error to find the right number of layers for durability. In the beginning, I often burnt my hands while ironing,” she said with a laugh.
Today, she can now craft a 10cm pouch in under 20 minutes.
Yau also works with single mothers and members of the deaf community to hand-make items without machines – a project that uplifts lives as much as it promotes sustainability.
The KL native explained that her process can involve up to 250 layers of plastic, resulting in a material tough enough to carry up to 50kg.
Operating from her studios in Damansara and Langkawi, Yau retains the original colours of the plastic and sometimes blends it with leftover fabric for added texture and charm.
Waterproof and resilient, her creations – from beach totes to everyday accessories – are 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 200kg 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.