Large boxes that distribute multiple newspapers are replacing single boxes in Vancouver in an effort to clean up city streets, organise newspapers and reduce the number of newspaper boxes, the Vancouver Sun reported Thursday.

The project was initiated by the city, and also aims to increase recycling, as each of the boxes contain a compartment for recycling old papers. However, configurations of the new boxes force tabloid format newspapers to be displayed sideways, making them difficult to read, and the cost to rent a compartment in the new boxes is much higher than the cost for single boxes.

Fifty of the new boxes, which each hold six or seven publications, are being installed in Vancouver this week, and an additional 50 will be installed during the rest of the year, the Vancouver Sun reported. The boxes are also bolted to the ground, unlike the single boxes.

The multi-paper boxes will be installed in high-traffic areas where it makes more sense to offer all the publications, but many places across the city will still have one or two single boxes. Vancouver may install more multi-paper boxes in 2009, but they will not completely replace the old single boxes, because the large boxes are only useful in places where there's a demand for at least four or five newspapers, Tom Hammel, streets administration engineer for the city, told the Vancouver Sun.

Newspaper publishers are responsible for providing and maintaining the single boxes, and currently pay $26 per year for each box up to 100, and an additional $78 for each additional box, up to a maximum of 700. CBS/Decaux provides and maintains the new larger boxes, and newspapers will have to pay the city $104 per year to rent a compartment in the new boxes, Hammel told the Vancouver Sun.