why is this bad? if there's a shortage it sounds actively good because that means more cobalt for other people.
They don't mention cobalt shortage at all. Making it sound like the environment is their primary goal.
greenwash
verb, transitive. (a) To mislead (the public) or counter (public or media concerns) by falsely representing a person, company, product, etc., as being environmentally responsible; (b) to misrepresent (a company, its operations, etc.) as environmentally responsible.
The earliest source the OED found was in 1989, in The Daily Telegraph (London).
None of this matters really.
If I get someone to do the right thing, for the wrong reasons, then score one for me!
I care about effects more than motivations.
The real problem with secret economic motivations is when they either prevent or undermine meaningful effort. But Apple is enacting meaningful effort here. It's good.