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Frederick County residents will soon find a new, much larger container in their driveway to hold recyclable glass bottles, aluminum cans, hardbound books and aerosol cans.

During the next two months, county officials plan to replace most of the 18-gallon blue containers residents now use, with new 65-gallon carts on wheels. Most of the 55,000 residents who now receive curbside recycling pickup will get the larger cart.

Middletown residents started receiving their new carts this week.

"This is a major ramp up of our recycling program," said Michael G. Marschner, director of the county's Division of Utilities and Solid Waste Management. "I think this is a very big deal."

The county currently recycles 36 percent of its waste and has a goal of 60 percent by 2024.

Commissioner Kai J. Hagen (D), a strong advocate of recycling, supports the new program, but says it does create a negative environmental impact because recycled items are hauled to Elkridge. The county does not have a facility at the Reichs Ford Road landfill for recycling waste, but Hagen supports building one here.

"Shifting our waste burden to another community also raises ethical questions," Hagen said in a presentation Tuesday about beefing up recycling in the county. "If the county builds its own … [recycling facility] we might very well want to accept — even pay for — recyclable materials collected and delivered from out of county."

The new system, called single-stream recycling, is designed to make recycling easier, and therefore encourage more participation. Now, residents can place all recyclable materials together, and more items may be recycled. Wide-mouth plastic containers, hardbound books aerosol cans and juice cartons are among the items that will now be accepted, but were not before, said Annmarie Creamer, recycling outreach program coordinator for the county.

Inside the lid of each new container is a sticker showing residents what can and cannot be recycled.

Marschner announced the single-stream recycling program to commissioners in October 2007. A pilot program began in May in Mount Airy.

Residents living in areas not conducive to storing the large containers — such as downtown Frederick — may keep their smaller, 18-gallon totes, Marschner said.

Since May, the Town of Mount Airy has been using the new single-stream recycling program, and according to Mayor Frank Johnson, it has worked well.

"It has resulted in more recycling and a notable reduction in trash," Johnson said. "We're pleased we are able to work with Frederick County. Having a larger bin really does encourage recycling."

Johnson said since town residents started the pilot program the amount of trash collected has decreased between 5 and 10 percent.

To move the new program forward in the rest of the county, Marschner is slated today to present Frederick County commissioners with bids from several trash-hauling companies interested in handling recycling pickup.

Commissioners are also expected to discuss expanding the recycling program beyond the current 55,000 residents, Marschner said.

Recycling is not offered to the 12,760 apartment or condominium complexes in the county. Use of the new larger containers will free up several thousand 18-gallon bins that can be used to start recycling programs in apartment complexes, he said.

Marschner said the county is looking to educate the public about the program through the media. There will be no direct mailing or classes.

Though the new containers are free to residents, the county has spent $50.23 for each 65-gallon container, for a total of $2.75 million, Marschner said. The county has purchased 55,000 carts. Of that, 3,000 are 95-gallon totes that will be available to residents with large families. Marschner said the carts should last between eight and 10 years.

Residents may begin using the new 65-gallon wheeled carts once the collection schedule is set. County officials said that will happen in the next several weeks, but had no official timetable yet. The 18-gallon bins will be collected during the initial few weeks of the program.