I think that was the first phone where they didn’t include the charger; after a decade+ of including a USB-A charger, that decision was probably fine for avoiding e-waste. Switching to USB-C on the wall side of the cable the next year was very iffy, since users were much, much more likely to need the new charger or an adapter.

If they were really worried about capacity (per shipping container) and reducing e-waste, they’d make the adapter available as an optional add-on at cost — making it free would likely generate more e-waste, since everyone would just go for the free charger.