West Wiltshire residents are being told to recycle more or face the prospect of our last remaining landfill site reaching capacity in just 15 years.

From November a new fortnightly doorstep collection of plastic bottles and cardboard will take place. Residents will be given 240 litre blue-lidded bins alongside their existing black box and regular rubbish bin.

The whole county will follow the west’s lead, with fortnightly rubbish collections rolled out in the north and south of Wiltshire, where they currently still have a weekly collection.

Wiltshire Council says it faces two problems – the more it continues to send to landfill the greater penalties it will pay to the government, and the amount of landfill space left in the county is very low.

Steve Burns, divisional director for the council’s waste contractors Hills, based near Calne, said: “The problem is serious. After this landfill is completed there is no more designated in Wiltshire. We have 14 remaining cells and they on average last 14 months each.”

Cllr Toby Sturgis, cabinet member for waste, said: “We will have a 50 per cent recycling rate and by the end of 2014 we will start saving on landfill tax. We have invested £7.6m to get this far. If we hadn’t done this the penalties for not doing so would have been very painful.”

The garden waste collection service will remain free in west Wiltshire, a service which is currently paid for in the north, east and south.

Linda Conley, the council’s portfolio holder for waste, said: “We are offering help to anyone who has problems with managing their waste. If people are struggling we can go out to them, on a one-to-one basis sometimes, and work with them to discuss what they are throwing away and how. In almost all cases we can create a solution.”

The huge expected increase in recycling and garden waste will put a strain on Hills’ current capabilities.

It is submitting plans in July to increase its Lower Compton base’s capacity three fold in addition to a temporary facility at Portemarsh in Calne.