The War on Waste is fully upon us and in times of war, there have always been ways for companies to profit from the perishability of consumables. In traditional terms, defence contractors have built empires on proceeds from war where a desire to win, comes at all costs.

How consumers approach the War on Waste will determine how we progress into the future where years of neglect, greed and laziness have produced monumental amounts of plastic waste with limited disposal options.

But we’re moving quickly in the right direction and seeing efforts from major corporations to reduce waste output.

Making headlines in recent months, major supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths have abolished supply of single-use plastic bags, encouraging customers to seek sustainable solutions. Beyond our domestic market, we have also seen single-use plastic bags bans in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Canada, China, the EU and the United States.

One company that has developed a sustainable and practical solution to address the War on Waste is ASX-listed Secos Group (ASX: SES) which produces compostable, biodegradable bags, using patented technology.

Secos Group’s products are readily available with sales in FY18 totaling $23.7 million and forecasted to increase in FY19 to $28 million, highlighting the growing demand for reusable, yet biodegradable solutions.

With China’s ban on plastic waste imports, there is growing pressure on Australia’s limited landfill capacity. This is prompting councils to expedite waste diversion programs and Secos Group’s biodegradable solutions to everyday consumer products will play a major role in our War on Waste.

In November 2017, Penrith City Council awarded Secos Group a $1.5 million contract, highlighting the need for councils to actively move towards these biodegradable solutions. Beyond this, Secos Group have reported more than 10 potential customers across Australasia and the United States are in the process of trialing their bags within their distribution chains.

The War on Waste is happening right in front of our eyes and organisations around the world are moving quickly to secure their positions on a battlefield where Secos Group are producing the ammunition to win.

Secos Group trades under the ASX code: ‘SES’