I guess they can go in regular waste bin. If you go here, you see why it’s a problem. You have to rinse the containers well before recycling. Otherwise they will grow mold or something.

Where I live, they cannot be recycled and they go in regular waste, where they will end up as landfill.

What about washing them and donating to a local nursery(kindergarten) or primary school for crafts? One of my neighbours collects coloured tissue paper (used to wrap gifts), ribbons, plastic tubs and small yoghurt pots for the nursery her youngest little girl attends. We all wash and keep ours for her. They can be used as containers/trays to hold crayons/pencils/etc or for putting paints or craft glue into (such as the small yoghurt pots). The little ones each year get to plant seeds in the spring and they each have a little yoghurt tub which they decorate first to personalise them. There are tons of uses the kids can put them too. Last year she asked us to keep our margarine/butter/ice cream tubs because the kids all needed one each to make little easter baskets :-) All of the Mums help collect and it’s a great way to re-use them. Maybe call your local nursery/school to see if they collect them? it’s worth a try and saves them going to landfill.
hugs xx

I second the idea that @bunnygrl proposed. I paint and do bead work, so I usually save some to use for those purposes. They’re also good for people who make any kind of do it yourself projects for holding nails and screws and bolts etc. You could wash yours and save them until you find a shcool or neighbors or yourself to use them for all sorts of different things.

@28lorelei Thanks for the link. I did not realize that it’s PEOPLE who separate the trashes! I always thought they use some kind of machine, or even that they have a factory for this purpose.

The frozen food trays are very useful to crafters. Clean them, save them up, and offer them on Freecycle.org three of four times a year.

donate to people who need them!the salvation army is a good choice.

@longtresses That would be a great idea for developing waste management! Have machines that sort and clean them, you know test them for what kind of plastic they are, etc.

You know, my mom always cleans them and uses them for storing food if they are in good shape and durable.