In the EU the WEEE directives put the responsibility for recycling on the producers, although mostly this ends up being via third parties but many companies and

In the EU the WEEE directives put the responsibility for recycling on the producers, although mostly this ends up being via third parties but many companies and retailers will allow you to turn in old goods, they're just quite quiet about it. The rapid turnover of new products is widespread throughout our consumer based societies, not an Apple issue alone, and arguably their decision to not include accessories like a power brick reduces electrical waste as most people have one already. The extra packaging from these accessories is typically cardboard and trivial in comparison to producing unneeded small electronics.