The ACT will have to keep trucking its recycling interstate for processing for about two more years, with the delivery of Canberra's new materials recovery facility pushed back to 2025.
The capital's recycling centre in Hume was destroyed by fire on Boxing Day, and while a new $23 million facility had already been on the cards, the ACT government says it won't be ready next year as first indicated.
The new state-of-the-art facility will be built on the same site and will process up to 115,000 tonnes of waste per year.
The project will also delay the construction of the ACT's first food organics and garden organics (FOGO) processing centre — which had been due for completion next year — to 2026.
City Services Minister Chris Steel said the recycling centre had to take priority with the cost of transporting waste from kerbside yellow bins to Dandenong and Sydney "unsustainable in the long run".
He said an additional $1.4 million had already been spent transporting recycling since the fire.
"We'll be evaluating those costs on an ongoing basis," he said.
"But we are insured for the fire, not just for the damage to the assets, but also for the business continuity as well. The amount we will receive is not determined at this point."
Approval process being expedited
Mr Steel said the government was "expediting the approval process" by having a single-stage — rather than a two-stage — procurement process to build and run the facility.
"We want to get it complete as soon as possible," he said.
"We're kicking off a discussion today with the community on an environmental impact statement.
"We'd like to hear from them about the facility and that's an important first stage in getting it approved."
The new materials recovery facility will include optical sorting technology to better separate polymers, glass washing, and screening technology to sort through cardboard and paper to reduce contamination.
New FOGO facility also delayed
Meanwhile, Mr Steel said work won't stop on the new FOGO facility, despite the delivery date being pushed back by two years.
He urged Canberrans to also have their say on an environment impact statement for the in-vessel facility, which will turn 50,000 tonnes of food and organic waste into compost annually.
"Due to the disaster that has struck our recycling facility, that has to be our priority," he said.
"That will mean it will take longer to build the food organics and gardening organics facility which was also due to be located in the Hume Resource Recovery Estate.
"That really is necessary to be able to support the city-wide rollout of FOGO collection services as well."
Mr Steel said the FOGO collection trial involving 5,000 households in Belconnen, Bruce, Cook and Macquarie would continue.
