RECYCLING CONTAINERS WILL GET HEAVE-HO : NO NEED TO SORT WITH NEW BARRELS.

Byline: Stacy Finz Daily News Staff Writer

Those yellow recycling bins will soon be going out with the trash.

Starting in March, the city of Los Angeles will replace the boxy curbside bins with full-size blue barrels that residents can use for all recyclables - including newspapers - without pre-sorting.

The $32 million conversion allows automated pickups and seizes upon new technology that allows the sifting of paper, glass and metal from the collected material, officials said Monday. The changes, which will formally be announced today, are expected to boost the collection of recyclables by nearly 150 percent.

``The blue containers are so much larger than the yellow ones and fit a lot more,'' said Silvia Linares, a North Hollywood resident who participated in a four-month pilot program.

``Because they have lids, things don't get wet in the rain,'' she said. ``I also like that I can just throw everything together.''

The 90-gallon blue barrels - which look the same as the green and black barrels used for clippings and household trash - will be distributed first in the west San Fernando Valley, where the recycling program began in 1989.

In all, 720,000 containers will be distributed over the next 18 months.

Drew Sones, assistant director of the city Bureau of Sanitation, said the $32 million cost of retooling the recycling program will be offset over time and help the city meet its goal of cutting trash flows into city landfills by 50 percent by 2000.

Los Angeles is only halfway there, according to Sones.

``We estimate that we will collect 148 percent more recyclables than we do now,'' Sones said, citing the increased convenience to residents of not having to sort newspaper from cans and bottles. ``This will not only save landfill costs but help us meet the state requirement.''

Sanitation trucks with automated arms will be used to empty the blue barrels as the city's fleet of white recycling trucks is phased out. When the system is fully implemented, Sones said the Bureau of Sanitation can trim 34 jobs and lower its operating costs by $1.2 million a year.

He estimates the city will increase the money it makes from recycled goods from $2 million to $5 million a year.

``These new blues will help Angelenos maximize the green, saving millions of taxpayers' dollars and protecting the environment,'' said Jason Greenwald, a spokesman for Mayor Richard Riordan.

Sanitation officials have been trying the program in 15 Los Angeles communities, including Reseda, Encino and North Hollywood.

``In Encino, recycling tripled and scavenging disappeared,'' said Daniel Hackney, the project coordinator. ``Not only was it successful but people loved it.''

Five years ago, Sones said recycling plants did not have the technology to sort paper from containers, and officials believed that combining the two would contaminate them.

But under the new program, recyclables can be combined and the recycling plants are now equipped to do the sorting.

The blue barrels hold 90 gallons - 74 gallons more than the yellow bins - and have lids. City officials said the yellow bins now in use will be left with residents.