Malaysian social enterprise among 3 winners of 2026 APEC BCG award

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian women-led social enterprise Kloth Circularity has emerged as one of three winners of the 2026 APEC Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Award, in recognition of its efforts to transform discarded textiles into economic opportunities while empowering underserved communities.

According to a statement issued by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, the enterprise collects unwanted textiles and repurposes them into new products, while providing sewing and upcycling training to women from underserved communities to help them develop skills and generate income.

Kloth Circularity was recognised alongside two other small businesses from Hong Kong, China and Indonesia for their innovative approaches to converting food, agricultural and textile waste into economic opportunities while supporting local communities.

The winners were announced at the Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting in Shenzhen on Saturday.

Kloth Circularity co-founder Sarah Kedah said the enterprise hoped its journey would demonstrate how circularity could create livelihoods, strengthen local value chains and generate economic opportunities.

"It cannot be achieved by one organisation alone, which is why we bring together businesses, communities and policymakers to make it work," she said.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Feeding Hong Kong, founded by Gabrielle Kirstein, was recognised for its work in collecting surplus food stocks from businesses and redistributing them through charities to people in need.

Since its establishment in 2011, the organisation has rescued more than 10,000 tonnes of food, helping to provide 32 million meals.

Indonesia's Plana, meanwhile, was recognised for transforming rice husks and plastic waste into durable alternatives to natural timber for furniture and construction, helping to reduce pressure on forests.

Its co-founder Joshua Christopher Chandra said the initiative also provided additional income opportunities for farmers and waste collectors through the purchase of agricultural byproducts and plastic waste.

The APEC BCG Award recognises micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) whose business models support the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green Economy, adopted by APEC Economic Leaders in 2022.

APEC Secretariat executive director Eduardo Pedrosa said MSMEs accounted for more than 97 per cent of businesses across the region, making their role in sustainable economic development particularly significant.

"APEC's role is to help their ideas reach more markets and more communities," he added.