Hospitals have not been incinerating for around 20+ years. There are a few dotted around who have limitations on what can be incinerated though. A recent example in my last week was the delivery of a battery (x4 AAA) inside a box that would fit a small TV. This is common for manufacturers and its normally a case of one person finding the part on a shelf, then placing that package along the line that then gets packaged again as its for shipping, then the courier will place it in another box as required by the contract with the manufacturer. I have complained to the manufacturers about this but they are so far removed from the "process" that nothing gets done. A lot of it is to do with storage systems-a square box sits better on a shelf inside a warehouse than a circular shaped device.
We pay for this P&P and then pay to dispose of it. Start requesting free P&P!
Try your best to recycle correctly and make use of the larger boxes by using them when sending a device away. Also worth offering them to other staff on an internal intranet system, lots of people often use them when moving.
With regards to various CD's, this is a real problem as its not sensible to stick them in landfill, and trying to negotiate an online library of manuals is a tricky one unless you have a good education/IT department. My suggestion is that you give them back to the Reps.
I imagine the costs of sending the waste back to the manufacturer would leave you out of pocket quickly, its also counter productive carbon footprint wise. Work with your waste management and do some joined up thinking by ensuring that its recycled or re-used. A great former colleague of mine would often use the mantra "work smart, work lean, work clean".
