Research from Planet Ark found that while more than 90 per cent of people believed recycling was important and is the right thing to do, 61 per cent of people felt confused about what could and couldn't be recycled.

One survey found that the most common mistake was including soft plastics in the recycling bin.

Instead, soft plastics can be recycled at Redcycle bins at Woolworths and Coles supermarkets across the country.

To celebrate National Recycling Week, ACT recycling facilities will offer the chance for the public to go behind the scenes and find out about the work they do.

Canberrans are some of the best recyclers in the country with the ACT coming second only to South Australia in the latest National Waste Report.

Manager of industry development with ACT NoWaste Greg Haraldson said the resource recovery rate, or the amount of material successfully recycled, had been hovering around 70 per cent for the past decade.

The ACT generates about one million tonnes of waste each year, of which half is from the construction sector and the rest being from business and household waste.

Mr Haraldson said the government had developed a road map to get the ACT's resource recovery rate up to 87 per cent.

To achieve this several changes to policy would need to be made, he said, such as including food scraps in green waste, improvements in the construction sector and considering options for waste to energy schemes.

ACT residents can visit the Transport Canberra and City Services website to have their say on waste policy and can also find information for recycling week activities.