Residents living in the former Kennet district will gain from Wiltshire Council’s plans to reorganise the collection of waste and recycling.

Under new proposals, which are currently out to consultation, people living in the Devizes, Marlborough and Pewsey areas will be able to put out cardboard and some plastics for collection as well as glass, paper and metal cans.

The existing collection of garden refuse is due to continue but it will be free when the new system comes into force. Currently, residents in the former Kennet area pay around £30 a year for the service.

Martin Litherland, Wiltshire Council’s head of waste collection services, told Monday’s Devizes Area Board meeting that the cost of sending waste to landfill was increasing all the time and it was imperative to recycle as much as possible to save precious resources.

He said: “The landfill tax has risen from £2.50 a tonne when it first started to £48 a tonne now and is due to rise to £80 a tonne by 2014. When you add to that fines of £150 a tonne for exceeding our landfill quota, you can see how important it is to remove as much from the waste stream as possible.”

He said that the collection of food waste was too costly to consider at the moment.

Recycling collections will continue on alternate weeks to waste (black bin) collections.