THE county is pinning its hopes on the Wiltshire Warrior and his clan of rubbish raiders to rescue it from its deepening waste disposal crisis.

At the moment North Wiltshire's household garbage is flung into massive landfill pits at Compton Bassett and Chapel Farm, in Blunsdon, and experts warn that if nothing is done they will be full to bursting point in 12 years time.

But next month the Wiltshire Waste Partnership will unleash its secret weapon in the war against waste, with the £1 million Rubbish Raiders scheme, which will spearhead the county's drive for kerbside recycling.

The scheme has been titled 'Rubbish raiders' to excite people about the potential of their garbage. Organisers aim to encourage people to break down Britain's throwaway culture and see their rubbish as a resource not as waste.

Homes in Calne, Wootton Bassett and Chippenham will be the first to receive free recycling boxes, with fortnightly collections of recyclable rubbish starting on September 15.

But by mid-November organisers hope the service will be fully operational in each of its targeted towns, including Corsham, Devizes, Marlborough, Melksham and Trowbridge.

It is hoped the scheme's motif of the bearded Wiltshire Warrior, who has been the figurehead for Wiltshire's recycling drive since 1996, and his family, which includes a wife, son, daughter and pet pig, will help the project appeal to a wide range of people of different ages.

Hills' recycling manager Tim Miller, who is responsible for the promotion of the scheme, said: "The rubbish raiders are fun characters, but the message they carry with them is a serious one because we really do want families to raid their bins.

"At least 60 per cent of a typical bin or black bag is recyclable and if you really work at it you can get even more.

"Wiltshire is an environmentally conscious county and we believe people will take up the challenge to regard paper, cans, glass bottles, textiles and foil as resources rather than waste."

The scheme is the initiative of the Wiltshire Waste Partnership, which embraces Wiltshire County Council, and the district councils of North Wiltshire, West Wiltshire, Kennet and Salisbury.

It was made possible by a successful bid for just under £1 million from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

A mountain of black collection boxes, designed to store recyclable waste, has been amassed in a former RAF gymnasium at Hills Recycling Centre, in Compton Basset. They will be distributed among 57,500 Wiltshire homes at the beginning of September.

People can use the tubs to separate their certain recyclable items from their household rubbish. Products that are suitable for recycling are identified in a pamphlet, which every household will receive inside each box.

The idea is that once a fortnight residents will put out their recycling boxes for collection on the same day as their black bags of household rubbish.

A fleet of six specially designed recycling collection lorries, which cost £874,000, will then collect and empty the 55 litre boxes.

The recyclable rubbish will be sorted into separate containers inside a hopper on the sides of each lorry.

When the lorries' hoppers are full workers walking alongside, separating the rubbish from the boxes, can punch a button sending the hoppers sliding up the side of the vehicle.

When they reach the top the hoppers will be tipped into massive compartments inside the lorry.

The scheme, which will be based in Compton Bassett, will create jobs for seven drivers and ten mates, who between them will operate five collection rounds.

Attempting to synchronise the rubbish collection days has proved a logistical nightmare for Hills' recycling contracts manager Steve Burns.

Despite the small size of the fleet at his disposal Mr Burns has scheduled 80 per cent of the new recycling rounds on the same day of the week as normal waste collections.

"We have been dealing with three different waste collection authorities, which all do things slightly differently and on different days," he said.

"We have been trying to find the best fit, which will enable us to get to the maximum number of properties on the same day."

But Mr Burns admitted the situation was not ideal. He said plastics were not included in the recycling box list because they take up too much space.