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It's not that they don't care, it's that they are not knowledgeable enough about the issue and don't have time or will to research it further. That's why we have laws and regulations, so that average Joe doesn't have to research the impact of everything he buys on his body/environment.

With that logic you could say, "why ban dangerous levels of pesticides in the food, if people don't like it, they will not buy the product."

Apple recycles huge amounts of materials from old products. I really hope that people are not following your suggestion and estimate the environmental impact only by iPhone cable and connector port.

The problem is that they don't care enough to act. Tragedy of the commons.

The same reason why there are regulations about pollution in general.