Samsonite Malaysia collaborates with Kloth Cares in taking recycling to the next level

The clothing industry is the second largest polluter after oil and gas, with textile waste in Malaysia estimated to be at 4% of total municipal solid waste - equivalent to a total of 2,000 metric tonnes or two million kilograms per day. Malaysia’s recycling rate is currently at 24% with hopes of reaching 30% by 2030.

Samsonite Malaysia, the world’s largest and most recognised luggage brand, has taken its recent successful Trade-In campaign to the next level by collaborating with Kloth Cares, a Malaysian social entrepreneurship movement dedicated to Keep Fabrics Out of Landfills through re-using, recycling and re-purposing.

As the first luggage company in Malaysia to champion the recycling practice, Samsonite Malaysia continued its initiative to raise awareness on environmental concerns and encouraged Malaysians to recycle with the aim of spreading love for the environment by moving forward towards green initiatives.

During the recent Luggage Trade-In campaign, Samsonite collected more than 100 used luggage, which will be sent to Kloth Cares for recycling or, if they are still in fairly good condition, to be refurbished and donated to underserved communities such as National Cancer Council Malaysia (MAKNA) and Sunteck Handicapped Welfare Home.

“At Samsonite, we are commited to incorporating sustainable practices into product innovation and bringing positive impacts to communities. Ultimately, we have found a great partner in Kloth Cares to help us recycle used luggage. We would like to extend our gratitude to all Malaysians who have been supportive and hope that it will motivate more Malaysians to take recycling to the next level. We will continue to expand our nationwide recycling and awareness initiative in collaboration with Kloth Cares and other similar organisations,” said Ambert Khoo, Country Head of Samsonite (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

On average, Kloth Cares collects more than 500,000 tonnes of fabric daily in Malaysia, which include more than 85,000kg of unwanted fabrics, bags and toys collected through recent initiatives with various collaborative partners.

“We are very excited to work with Samsonite Malaysia to help them achieve their noble initiative to promote recycling through initiatives such as the recent Samsonite Luggage Trade-In campaign, which is in line with our Kloth Cares 188 Fabric Recycling Campaign.” said Nik Suzila Nik Hassan, the Co-Founder of Kloth Cares.

“The luggage that cannot be repaired and reused will be sorted accordingly with plastic materials sent to a plastic recycler; unrepairable fabrics shredded and made into biofuel; while fabrics from Samsonite’s luggages with suitable textures will be used for the autism sensory wall under the Kloth Cares social community project.” added Suzy.

With the aim of bringing eco-friendly products to the market, Samsonite recently introduced its New Eco Collection for the Asian market. The products under the range, named SPARK SNG ECO, OCTO ECO and MARCUS ECO, are now available in Malaysia and is made with Recyclex™ - an innovative fabric technology using recycled plastic (PET) bottles which it has developed.

The Samsonite Luggage Trade-In Campaign was held from 1st March to 14th April 2019, in collaboration with WWF-Malaysia in support of WWF’s Earth Hour campaign