But Apple seems very much in the wrong here on an ethical level. If the devices have resale value, then they should be resold, not destroyed! Reduce and Reuse are both higher priorities than Recycle.
When you told them you would recycle the old products, you actually made a contract with them. Don't call it recycling if there is any chance at all that you may instead resell. We learned that the hard way.
Legally, I'm sure you're right. But on a practical level, what do you think recycling is?
If you fish something out of the trash and reuse it, congratulations, you have recycled it in the most efficient way possible.
It's like these recyclers are "too good" at their jobs. I thought market forces were supposed to make sure of that.
The really disgusting thing is Apple coopting "recycling" for "destroying unused product to maintain brand value."
If you have an old Apple product and you want to be good to the environment, do not take it to an official Apple recycling dropoff!
But then your nephew throws it in the regular trash eventually.
You’ve broken your promise to me. If you’re also the world’s most valuable public company you’ve made that promise to your shareholders and used it to increase your brand perception. It seems reasonable that you’d like to make sure you keep it, no?
Reusing things doesn't change the overall recycling rate. It just reduces the demand for new things (which is why Apple dislikes it). Knowing how to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (in that order!) is much better than some sort of cargo cult destruction of working devices.
EDIT: Also, knowing this happens without Apple adjusting their own terms may be grounds for fraud, so somebody has to change their language anyways.
I can't imagine Apple just not selling stuff that's perfectly capable of being sold as a refurbished item. My assumption is that if it's in the hands of a recycler then it's probably not meeting some kind of quality assurance standard for battery life, reliability, etc.