Southampton City Council bosses admitted the local authority was a "hamstringed" on the materials it could currently recycle.
Latest government figures show Southampton's household recycling rate was 29.6 per cent compared with a national average of 42.3 per cent.
The local authority is not currently able to collect plastic packaging or Tetra Paks in recycling wheelie bins.
However, from 2027 a change in the law will require councils to recycle plastic pots, tubs and trays, as well as plastic films such as crisp packets and bread bags.
This will be made possible through the opening of the new materials recovery facility, which is being built in Eastleigh.
The £50million scheme in Chickenhall Lane is a joint project between local authorities, with Hampshire County Council covering 77 per cent of the cost, Portsmouth City Council covering 11.52 per cent and Southampton City Council covering 11.48 per cent.
Southampton City Council executive director of residents services Carol Maclellan explained to members of the overview and scrutiny management committee why the new facility was important.
Ms Maclellan said: "We are in a contract with Hampshire County Council and our neighbouring districts to build a new MRF in Eastleigh and that facility will allow us to recycle all of those additional materials because they will go to that facility and they will be sorted out through a series of conveyor belts, sort lines, etcetera.
"We are bit hamstringed until we get that new facility online in terms of how we can increase the materials that we recycle but we can absolutely do more in terms of our education campaigns and encouraging our residents to recycle as much as they can now."
Committee member Cllr Vivienne Windle asked what the project timeline was for the facility.
Ms Maclellan said: "We have planning permission granted and the MRF is on schedule to be built by the end of 2027, so it is later than any of us would like still but there have been all sorts of delays.
"End of 2027 is when it will be operational."
The government has set a national target to recycle 65 per cent of domestic waste by 2035.
The executive director said the city should be aiming to meet that target but admitted the authority was a long way off it currently.
She said the introduction of weekly household food waste collections next year should increase recycling rates by around four to five per cent.