....because it's Apple's 10th anniversary and Apple , I think, is seen as a more progressive /green company.
and Yes ....The obvious solution is not to disparage cell phones or an individual manufacturer but to develop better recycling technologies and standards, something that is perfectly achievable.
.....and this is the point of “symbolic annihilation"  the "consumer-industrial-complex" doesn't want people to be aware of the harm their consumption is doing , because they may curtail their consumption or demand that recycling be made compulsory and the costs be passed on to the manufacturers affecting their profits.