Fairly surprised by some of the replies on this thread, as i work for someone it's no skin off my nose to take all rubbish which gets put in the bins back at the yard but I always thought it was standard practice to clear everything away after yourself on a job anyway.
I suppose if you are self employed and getting rid of waste is another thing to take your time up then I can see why some guys are happy to leave it to the customer to clear away.
As already mentioned though if I had someone do work at mine, windows, carpets or what ever and left rubbish behind I would not be impressed, even with a good job I would just think it looks a bit unprofessional and lazy. I wouldn't kick up a fuss about it because i'm not petty and would still use them again but would tell them to take the rubbish next time.
Back to the original post the fact that the plumber was happy to take the rads then he could have taken the packaging too.
I would always take rubbish as last impressions are just as important as first impressions. Could do an excellent, neat job but then leave a bad taste in the customers mouth by leaving mess behind. It would take the shine off a job well done.
If guys have it as part of their quote or just agree with customer that they are not taking rubbish then fair enough, that's for the customer to accept.
Just over a year ago I had a job to go and fit a couple of radiators, did the job, cleared away tools, then went to check system pressure and make sure everything was getting hot. All sorted and I left but I forgot to take the rubbish. I didn't remember until I got home that night and it was my first proper employment in the trade and I started flapping so I called the customer and said sorry and said I could come back and get it. She was fine about it and said don't worry. She was decent about it but I could imagine some people phoning the office and complaining and I hadn't been there long. It's just not worth giving a customer a reason to complain.