How can I reuse or recycle plastic mushroom tubs?

Plastic mushroom tubAmongst our friends, mushrooms are a bit like Marmite: people either LOVE them or hate them to the point of inventing fake allergies about them. John and I are firmly in the “love” category but have a bit of a problem with the plastic tubs they often come in because we go through so many – we try to buy loose mushrooms (preferably in a paper bag) wherever possible but still go through one or two of these boxes a week.

I used to use them under plants or to hold seedlings in the greenhouse, but the greenhouse is now used by a local stray cat as a home and I’ve got better saucers/pots around the house.

We also used to use them as a pre-compost-bin counter top bin in the kitchen – ideal for tea bags and the like – but now we’ve got a proper little bin with a lid for that sort of thing.

So what can we do with them instead?

The tubs – deep trays really – are quite thin plastic so not heavy duty for most reusing-as-storage purposes. I guess they could be used as dividers in drawers but we have a severe lack of drawers in this house (none in the kitchen, two in the living room, none in the bathroom, and just a chest of drawers in the bedroom) so everything is already in boxes on shelves.

Other suggestions?

(As for recycling, none of the tubs I’ve checked over the years have had a recognisable identification mark on the bottom – sigh – anyone know what they tend to be?)

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13 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle plastic mushroom tubs?”


  1. Agata says:

    Crash,crumple and give to the cat-it will love noise tray will make.

  2. Nicole says:

    Could they be used as shrinky dink plastic?

  3. Bobbie says:

    Call your recycle center and find out if they can take them. Ours here is very knowledgeable about what can and can’t go.

    Feed the cat with one of them :)

  4. MJ Ray says:

    Some of the companies that pack mushrooms into those plastic trays for supermarkets are amongst the worst environmental offenders. Monaghan Mushrooms, who supply Sainsbury’s, were fined in December 2007 for waste disposal offences.

    Buy your mushrooms from a responsible local greengrocer!

  5. Ash says:

    I’d love some good ideas for the ever famous mushroom container. I just bought one today and I hate throwing them away. Maybe if you get enough of them you can use it to soundproof your home based recording studio??? :-)

  6. Riotflower says:

    While we try to avoid them when possible, we do end up inheriting several a year with various produce.

    This may be the same as the drawer suggestion above, but I find that they’re the perfect dimensions for the bathroom (under the sink) cabinets, where we store our extra supply of products. With a sharpie, I list which tub is for soaps, teeth care, emergency, illness, etc.

    If you have the clear ones, you could use those Above your seedlings as a mini-propagator on windowsills to keep the chill out when they’re young.

  7. Amanda says:

    I save these tubs and use them as paint-trays for painting. They’re a nice size for holding and dipping a brush, and can also work for the mini-rollers

  8. HuntingWabbits says:

    jello mold

  9. Ronda Morritt says:

    Either buy ones that are loose or, if you do find yourself gettingthe odd one, they eally do make great drawer separators.

  10. Bertie says:

    Seed trays

  11. Olia says:

    Cement mold. Pave the path.

  12. If you live in the Shrewsbury area I’d love to have them and any others like them and those of your neighbours and friends! Or if your going to Shambala bring them along to the childrens area and make a mushroom growing kit with me whilst your offloading them.

  13. Jo Sparkes says:

    I use these plastic trays for putting kitchen debris in on top of my draining board — stainless steel type. I always have a tray for this, and you can use them for putting desserts and fruit in etc, ( wash up first )
    Hope this helps !
    Jo



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