A food and garden organics collection scheme that kicked off in more than 5,000 Canberra homes in 2021 is being expanded to some multi-unit developments, but it is behind on delivery.

The program provides households with a kitchen caddy and liners to store their scraps, then recycles the organic waste into a nutrient-rich compost.

The Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection pilot has been providing a weekly collection of food scraps and garden waste in the suburbs of Belconnen, Bruce, Cook and Macquarie.

It is now being extended to include 1,172 units in Belconnen and Tuggeranong.

The government plans to roll out the FOGO program Canberra-wide, but in order to do that a dedicated facility must be built to process the waste.

But that has taken a back seat to replacing the capital's recycling centre, which was destroyed by fire on Boxing Day in 2022. 

The government says it remains committed to delivering the city-wide FOGO collection service but the facility's construction, which was initially due to be completed this year, has been pushed back a second time and now may not be done by 2026.

ACT Minister for City Services Tara Cheyne said having a recycling facility for Canberra was "really critical", with the capital's recyclables currently being transported to Sydney.

Ms Cheyne said despite the delays, the FOGO pilot had gotten very positive responses from those involved.

"Residents have embraced it," she said.

"It's been really terrific to see just how much the community has got on board.

"The contamination rate in the ACT is extremely low. It's less than 0.1 per cent, which is a terrific outcome."

Belconnen resident Lorna Gordon, whose unit has just become part of the pilot, said she thought it was a fantastic thing to do for the environment.

"I was excited in 2021, but then disappointed because we didn't get any, so I'm excited that it's happening today," Ms Gordon said.

"To me it's very, very important because I'm a grandmother, I have grandchildren, and many a day I think, 'What's this world going to be like when they grow up?'

"So I'm happy to do my contribution and to inspire my neighbours from this complex."

Ms Cheyne said the pilot was good for the environment and also an important part of building the ACT's circular economy.

"We know that landfill obviously produces emissions, and 30 per cent of our landfill at the moment is food waste, so being able to take that out of our landfill and turn it into a reusable product … will really help us advance our climate targets."

ACT Greens MLA Jo Clay said given the climate crisis, the government needed to act more rapidly.

"It's great news to see progress, but this project is really delayed," Ms Clay said.

"We were meant to have food and organics recycling by 2023 — that's been pushed back to 2026 at the earliest."

Ms Clay said in the absence of a recycling facility there were other ways to get things done efficiently.

"We have insect farmers and composters, and material businesses in Canberra already who could do it this way," she said.

"Some of our businesses are providing services to other councils in other areas, we don't need another capital project that will be delayed by years and years."

Project engagement officer Jody Gleeson said extending the pilot into unit complexes would begin in the coming weeks.

"We'll start to roll those out over the coming weeks as people are made aware of which complexes are invited but I think it's going to be a really nice way of transitioning into a future of FOGO within the ACT," she said.

Ms Gleeson said her team could run group information sessions for units and apartment buildings to ensure all residents knew how the FOGO bins worked.

"We really want to make sure people understand what can and can't go into their bins, but also to really make sure that it's a positive experience and just becomes part of their daily life," she said.

"So your fruit and vegetables, dairy and meat, all of those common items."