The convenience of placing a range of recyclables in a single container for curbside pickup - "single stream," in industry parlance - will expand to 150,000 households in North Philadelphia and several lower Northeast neighborhoods on May 5, the city announced yesterday.

That means all city residences except about 80,000 homes in Northwest Philadelphia will have single-stream recycling, and those will be added in July, the Streets Department said.

With single stream, the city will pick up paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, and tin and aluminum cans all mixed together.

In addition to North Philadelphia, the areas to be added next month are Northern Liberties, Frankford, Kensington, Logan, Olney and East Oak Lane.

Before the single-stream program began in 2006, city households recycled only about 5.5 percent of their waste, one of the lowest rates among large cities nationwide.

The rate is now approaching 8 percent, city recycling coordinator Scott McGrath said. The goal is 18 percent - roughly the national average, he said.

Overall, the tonnage of recycled items has increased about 35 percent since 2006, to as much as 4,500 tons a month. The city pays $62 a ton to send refuse to a landfill, but it can sell the recyclables for $37 a ton.

"The city's progressing very well," McGrath said. "We're very encouraged."

Next up after July: Those neighborhoods that currently get recyclables picked up every other week will move to weekly collection in January 2009.

Still to be determined: whether to continue with RecycleBank, which has offered coupons and other incentives for recycling to residents of West Oak Lane and Chestnut Hill since 2005.