If it is PLA then it is biodegradable and can be thrown out with the rubbish. From the internet “Most biodegradable cups are made from PLA (polylactic acid) plastic. PLA is a polymer made from high levels of polylactic acid molecules. For PLA to biodegrade, you must break up the polymer by adding water to it (a process known as hydrolyzing). Heat and moisture are required for hydrolyzing to occur” and “Q: How long will PLA products take to degrade or compost? PLA products will take up to 6 months to compost in commercial composting facility. In home composting facility, it may take longer time.”
I prefer ABS because I can use the rest as paint. You can dissolve ABS in acetone as often as you want. This is not good for every printing object (e.g. not for helmets), but you can recycle waste yourself.
Look up filament recycling on utube. I am saving all my waste pla for that purpose. I figure building a filament recycler will cost around 300.$ us, and will get me a lot more to print with.
You will have to save a lot of bad prints when you want to make new filament out of it…
How long will it take for you to produce 1 kg of PLA waste (same colour)?
At $35/kg (converted from my local price in Europe) you will need 9 kg (about 20 pounds) of waste material to start saving money.
Is it wort that if you don’t run a printing business?
I have run across info somewhere, maybe utube, about making filament from plastic water bottles too. And im just mixing all the different colors together, this will be a “test” filament when done. Just keeping pla and abs separate.