Starting Dec. 1, 14,000 Springfield households will be using big blue 95 gallon recycling bins. The plastic containers are part of the new single-stream recycling program.

Instead of separating recyclables and placing them in square bins, residents will place glass, metal, plastic and newspaper in the same bin.

"Now with the big blue bin everything, all recycling gets thrown into that bin. It's so simple to recycle now," Mayor Domenic Sarno said.

Another 23,000 households that already have the square bins will used them in the same way. Everything goes in and there will be no more separating of bottles and cans.

Mass Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Director Steven Ellis said, "There is very little sorting that has to occur and from a transportation point of view the city is going to save money on transporting the recyclables."

Last year the city tested the program in the East Forest Park neighborhood. Officials found residents recycled more.

"You'll get the people who recycle now to recycle more and then you'll get the people who recycle just a little bit or not at all. Hopefully they will start to recycle now because it is so easy to do," Ellis said.

The city also found that amount of non-recyclable trash decreased by three tons a week. The city saves more than $46 for every ton of trash that does not go to the landfill.

"We have seen in our pilot area a huge increase in recycling and a huge decrease in tippage and tonnage. In other words the disposal of regular trash. So, it's not only good environmentally it's also good for the bottom line of the budget," Sarno said.

Residents who need more of the square 30 gallon bins can call the city's information line at 311 to get more.