Well my anecdotal evidence tells me my broken smart phones end up in my box of old electronics.
I don't service my devices through the telcos. I use prepaid plans and phones. Many people do. That's why department stores sell them. Because there's a customer base that needs them.
I sincerely doubt many 40 dollar off the shelf phones are being recycled.
Many people also likely find it stupid to pay someone to change a battery when we can do it ourselves.
I think a more reasonable compromise here is that we can probably both agree that recycling in general needs massive improvements. i.e. make it incredibly easier for people to recycle or remove the choice from the consumer completely.
P.s. if it's Schrödingers e-waste it's inherently 50-50 on what happens to it so it's not as bad.
And if small amounts add up then arguably devices+batteries in landfill are worse than just battery.