The City of Calgary is looking at ways to protect the planet as a debate about waste reduction gets underway.

A discussion around one-time plastics is set for Wednesday.

Items like plastic straws, utensils and styrofoam containers are disposable and end up in city landfills.

There is now a political consideration to impose an outright ban on single-use plastics, but Ward 11 Coun. Jeromy Farkas isn’t convinced.

“I am very reluctant to look to heavy-handed government solutions like outright bans and it’s not even clear whether we have that legal authority,” Farkas said Tuesday.

“Where I want to see us go is allowing the private sector to innovate.”

Ward 1 Coun. Ward Sutherland said he’s looking at creative ways to reuse plastics.

“Banning doesn’t solve the issue and it’s the same thing with stored plastics. We’re looking at roads, whether or not it can be shredded and put in asphalt,” Sutherland said.

Read the full story at GlobalNews.ca