The federal and territory governments will spend $26 million on the construction of a new recycling facility for Canberra. 

The facility will be built on the same site of the Hume Material Recovery Facility, which was extensively damaged by a fire in December 2022, as well as the adjoining block where new technology will expand the capacity to sort and process glass, plastic, paper and cardboard.

The ACT government says the new facility will increase resource recovery by creating higher quality recycled products and reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfill.  Funding will allow work to commence with a contract expected to be awarded in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the ACT government says its upcoming budget will spend $2.5 million for new toilets at Evatt Shops and Ruth Park in Coombs, an upgraded toilet at Mawson shops and support the delivery of a new toilet near Bizant Street in Amaroo as part of the Yerrabi Pond Upgrade.

More than $2 million will be spent on the renewal of playgrounds and skateparks, including safety improvement works, mulch and rubber soft fall top ups, and a program of regular audits and inspections.

Libraries will get portable phone chargers and more power boards and charging stations.

The budget will also commit $5.824 million towards a new baseline of city maintenance, reinforcing resources in mowing, in-house traffic management and tree management teams.

Ten full-time positions and eight additional mowers have been funded to deliver an expanded mowing effort. In the low season, mowing crews will assist with horticultural work across the city, including weeding, road edging and maintenance.

The budget will also fund the continuation of a 10-person, in-house traffic management crew to provide traffic management control for mowing, litter picking, weed control and tree maintenance teams.

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