Two kittens have been found alive and healthy at a Hume recycling facility, having survived a journey inside a garbage truck after being dumped in a kerbside recycling bin.

The cats, which are estimated to be about three weeks old, were found in a box as it was being recycled on Tuesday afternoon.

They had endured a trip in the back of a recycling truck, where materials are compressed, after they were dumped in a recycling bin.

The kittens are now in the care of Shannan Langford Salisbury, an ACTNOWaste education officer who studied animal science at university, and was conducting a tour through the recycling facility when the kittens were discovered.

Both kittens are being looked after by a member of staff at the recycling facility. ( Supplied )

"They are extremely, extremely, lucky to have made it through the process," she said.

Ms Langford Salisbury is now caring for them in her home until they are old enough to go to new homes.

"They're underweight but they'll be fine. We got them vet checked. We've just got to feed them [from] a bottle for a few weeks and then feed them up and then at eight weeks they'll be ready to be adopted," she said.

"They obviously have to have special names for being able to survive something so horrific."

Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) said it was clear the kittens had been deliberately put in the bin, and would have endured a journey in the back of a garbage truck

"It is hard to believe that the two kittens have survived the journey from a kerbside recycling bin all the way to the facility in Hume as all garbage and recycling materials are compressed inside the collection vehicles," TAMS Minister Shane Rattenbury said.

RSPCA ACT chief executive Tammy Ven Dange said the dumping of kittens was a serious problem, and some Canberrans still failed to get their pets desexed.

"There's an easy way to fix this issue, by owners getting their pets desexed," she said.

"Not only will this reduce the number of unwanted animals in our community, it also decreases the risk of future health issues and can help with behavioural problems with their pets too.