Plans to introduce a new kerbside recycling collection service in west Wiltshire have been opened up for public consultation.

Wiltshire Council wants to introduce a fortnightly collection service for plastic bottles and cardboard from the doorstep to bring the whole county under the same service.

The authority had inherited four different systems under the former district council structure, but now wants to unify the way it collects waste.

Council bosses are now giving residents the chance to share their views, but they have set a deadline of August 20 to do so.

Cllr Jane Scott, leader of the council, said: “I think people are beginning to accept that you cannot put all your rubbish into one bin anymore. We are simply running out of holes in the ground, so we want people to recycle as much as possible.

“We will take in all the views that are expressed and there will be a report written to be decided upon in October ready for implementation in the new year.”

The plans mean the alternating system of household rubbish collections one week and black box recycling the next would remain the same but an additional collection of plastic bottles and cardboard will be made every fortnight.

The collection of garden waste every fortnight will be free but there will still be no facility to recycle tetrapaks and food waste.

The county’s recycling average is 40.5 per cent and a target of 50 per cent of all waste must be reached by 2020, or the council will face millions of pounds of fines.

West Wiltshire’s recycling rate of 42.9 per cent compares to north Wiltshire which has a 27.7 per cent recycling rate.

In north Wiltshire, which includes Corsham, the plan is to introduce a fortnightly collection of household waste to bring it in line with the west of the county.

Nicholas Keyworth, from Transcoco, a community organisation in Corsham that runs a recycling group, said: “Anything that can be done to encourage more recycling has got to be a good thing.”

Jay Macleod, from the Neston Recycling Group, said: “You need to do more to give people the opportunity to recycle if you are going to cut their waste collections. It has been shown that people flytip more if there is a build up of waste.”

Residents who want to make their views known can visit a council roadshow in Trowbridge town centre on Wednesday, 10am-2pm, July 1 in Devizes town centre or Chippenham town centre on July 2, 10am and 2pm.

A survey can also be completed online at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/waste.