The ACT Government is in negotiations to buy more land to expand the Mugga Lane landfill and extend its life for at least another 20 years.
ACT No Waste director Chris Ware said the current landfill was due to run out in about 2015.
Mr Ware said the land under negotiation was private and was near the current landfill.
No Waste also has a separate development application with the ACT Planning and Land Authority to extend the landfill beyond its south-east corner on land that was once used for a clay stockpile. That was expected to add another year of use to the landfill.
Mr Ware said the life of the landfill depended on how much waste was generated and how much could be recycled.
The ACT Waste Management Strategy 2011-25 says the territory is estimated to have produced more than 800,000 tonnes of waste in 2009-10, some 2.5 tonnes for each ACT resident. The ACT has a resource recovery rate of more than 70 per cent, down from its peak of 75 per cent in 2005-06.
Mr Ware said the land could extend the life of the landfill for up to 80 years but that was an optimistic estimate.
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