Bracknell Forest Council is reviewing opening hours at Bracknell's household waste recycling centre as it looks for ways to ease financial pressures.
Trials over the summer assessed the capacity of the two household waste recycling centres operated through the re3 partnership.
Councillors warned at a scrutiny meeting that cutting hours could raise fly-tipping. The council says the trial findings will inform any changes but has not confirmed if hours will be reduced or when a decision will be made.
Cllr Ryan Frost, cabinet member for environment and climate change, said the council recognised that convenient opening hours for the local household waste recycling centre made a difference to residents.
The review is part of the re3 Strategy 2026-2031 as the partnership seeks to make the service more efficient and tackle ongoing financial pressure.
A public consultation carried out by the re3 waste management partnership in November 2025 found 93.5 per cent of respondents had used a recycling centre in the previous year and were open to future operational changes, including a change to opening hours, if these helped to ease financial pressures while still being convenient for them.
"Trials over the summer were held to assess the capacity of each of the two household waste recycling centres," he said.
"The findings from these trials will inform any potential changes, with the aim of maintaining adequate levels of access across both sites."
re3 is a partnership between Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham councils, with waste services operated by FCC Environment. The two household waste recycling centres are Longshot Lane in Bracknell and Smallmead in Reading.
The Longshot Lane recycling centre is currently open from 8am to 8pm between April and September and from 8am to 6pm between October and March. No changes to the opening hours have yet been announced.
Katie French, Local Democracy Reporter
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