Single-stream recycling has started strong, Randi Mail, the city’s recycling director, said in a Thursday e-mail blast.

“Cambridge residents have been recycling at high levels,” she wrote of the implementation of the single-stream method. “During its first full month, recycling increased by 125 tons — 20 percent — compared with November 2009.”

Single-stream means clean bottles, cans, paper and cardboard can be put in the same bin, saving time and energy for consumers. The switch also means more items can be recycled, Mail has said. While plastic bags and Styrofoam are still banned from curbside collection, larger plastic items such as laundry bins and toys will be allowed, along with all sizes of cardboard, including refrigerator boxes and empty pizza boxes; frozen food boxes; and spiral cans, such as those for salted nuts.

Last month 781 tons of material was recycled from homes, city-owned buildings, schools and houses of worship, compared with 656 tons last November,  she said.

In another sign of residents’ interest in recycling, Mail said 150 residents and city employees have toured the Casella Recycling facility in Charlestown over the year to see the sorting technology used to separate our recyclable materials, which are marketed to companies that make new products.

This post recycles significant amounts of material from a press release.