Work has begun on a new household recycling centre for Devizes. The household recycling centre is the tenth to be built in the county and is due to open in June.

The new centre in Devizes is part of a strategy to persuade us to reduce, reuse and recycle.

We produce around 250,000 tonnes of household rubbish that currently goes into the county's landfill sites.

This amount is expected to rise by 16,170 tonnes in 2004/05 and to cost an extra £610,000 to dispose of.

This cost accounts for a half of one per cent of this year's 5.98 per cent council tax rise.

The £400,000 site is being built at the Hopton Road Industrial Estate and is being built for Wiltshire County Council by waste disposal contractor Hills Minerals and Waste Ltd.

The new recycling centre will be open seven days a week and people will be able to take a variety of household rubbish to the centre for recycling including paper, glass, cans, textiles, cardboard, plastic bottles, green waste, timber, metals, fridges and cookers, rubble and soil.

Car batteries and oil will also be welcome at the centre for processing and recycling and bulky household rubbish will also be able to be taken to the centres prior to disposal at landfill sites.

These recycling centres compliment the network of smaller mini-recycling centres that can be found at supermarkets, pubs and car parks.

Household recycling centres, however, are able to deal with a wider range of recyclable materials and bulkier items such as fridges.

Overseeing waste and planning at the County Council, Toby Sturgis, said: "I encourage local people to use the site once it is open and to recycle their household rubbish. Everybody should do all they can to reduce, reuse and recycle.

"Not only does recycling protect the environment it also means that less of council taxpayers' money has to be spent on landfill tax and could help reduce future council tax rises."