A booking system at an Elgin recycling system will become permanent to save £1.5million in relocation costs.
Moray Council imposed the drop-off slots at the Chanonry site to manage traffic and maintain social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
However, now the authority says the system will become permanent to avoid the need to investigate and develop an alternative site.
Before the pandemic, the size of the recycling centre had made it difficult to cope with traffic during busy periods with a one-way system imposed at times amid consideration being given to moving to a larger location.
Instead, bookings will now become permanent in Elgin to control how much the current site is being used while the system will be dropped elsewhere in the region once coronavirus restrictions allow.
Council leader Graham Leadbitter believes the system will reduce queuing at peak times, including weekends and the Christmas period.
He said: “The booking system for our recycling centres has proven very effective in managing numbers during the current Covid-19 outbreak and over time the availability of bookings will increase as and when restrictions ease.
“Anecdotally people are also planning their journeys to the recycling centres more, taking larger loads and making fewer trips – which has both an environmental and cost benefit from fewer journeys being made, and making the management of the sites better for both staff and customers.”