The City of St. John’s is looking at options to secure bags of recycling that are put out to the curb, to prevent them from blowing around.

The city is considering three potential options, all of which would require making it mandatory to secure recycling.

The first option puts the onus on the household to have a method to secure their bags, either with a net, a blanket, or a bin.

The second option is for the city to provide nets to all households, a cost of about $1.5-million. The third option is to provide blue recycling carts to all households—at a cost of $4-million.

Councillor Maggie Burton says every house will have different needs, with some needing a net and others needing a bin. She suggests a program whereby people can purchase their preferred option through the city at a reduced rate.

Councillor Ian Froude, however, isn’t a fan of any of the options presented. He has issues with the potential costs and environmental impacts. Further, he has only heard from one or two people about the problem.

He doesn’t think it’s a big enough problem to justify the scale of the solutions presented.