Let's start with what an ort is. The original definition is German and it meant the remnant of food. Crumbs for example. In needlework an ort is the snippet or piece of strings left over while stitching. We tend to look at the stitching as the art and over look the orts, However, orts can be recycled in many ways,
One way is to create Christmas ornaments. These empty ornament shells can be purchased at craft stores, Walmart, etc. I got mine at the Dollar Tree. I keep the orts in these jars, as the jar gets filled I transfer the orts to the ornament. It is neat at the end of the years when you see the ornaments and you can pick out which projects go with which ornament just by the color combinations. I have these orts and snippet jars in my Etsy shop.
Another option for your orts is to put them outside in the spring. Birds will use them to make nests. The nests are also pretty because of the colors. There really is no reason to just throw away orts, there are so many possibilities to recycle them.