The Canberra Times last week revealed the territory government was pursuing a compensation claim after being unable to secure disaster recovery funding from the Commonwealth to help restore the park.

More than 80 per cent of the park was lost in a fire started by a landing light from a MRH-90 Taipan helicopter. Defence personnel were in the park at the request of ACT authorities, helping to prepare remote landing sites in case a fire started in a remote area.

Instead, they ended up accidentally starting what ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr called the "most serious" bushfire threat to Canberra since 2003. Mr Barr has since said repairing the park will be an extensive and expensive task.

But Environment Minister Sussan Ley refused to weigh in on the claim on Wednesday.

"That sounds like a matter that's going through a legal process and I don't wish to comment on it," Ms Ley said.

However she said the Commonwealth had already provided the ACT with $500,000 to help with the bushfire recovery.

Liberal senator Zed Seselja said there was a "discussion to be had" regarding compensation.

However he said the ACT should also remember the army was there to help.

"Of course the ACT has made its views known in terms of what should happen there," Senator Seselja said.

"I think we should remember that whilst there are great challenges fighting those bushfires, of course there were Commonwealth resources put for the good of the people of the ACT [into] fighting those fires."

The comments came at an event where the federal and ACT governments announced a $21 million upgrade of the materials recycling centre at Hume.

The centre, which processes all the yellow-lid bin recycling for the ACT and surrounding regions, will soon be able to better sort plastic and clean glass.

Ms Ley said the upgrades would help the ACT comply with the ban on waste exports. From January 2021, unprocessed glass can no longer be exported, while unprocessed mixed plastics will no longer be able to leave the country from July 2021. All other waste, including unsorted papers and cardboard, will be banned from export from July 2024.

Mixed plastic from the Hume centre currently ended up in Indonesia, Ms Ley said.

"It's our waste, it's our responsibility and it's our recycling task," Ms Ley said.

ACT City Services Minister Chris Steel also weighed in on another controversial recycling plant planned for Fyshwick.

The centre's proponents, who are proposing to extract recyclables from Canberra's red-lid bin waste, say the only way to properly recycle plastic is to melt it down - which the territory's recent ban on waste-to-fuel technology prohibits.

However Mr Steel said the ACT would not back away from the ban.

"The ACT government has shut the door on waste to energy, the burning of rubbish in a city environment. We want to focus on the waste hierarchy, reducing, reusing and recycling materials," Mr Steel said.