The question is how to deal with all of the space debris. It seems like they should factor in the total cost (retrieving anything that goes up) and not only the cost to launch it.

Sattelites in LEO without the ability to boost their orbits back up will fall out of orbit in a few years due to natural atmospheric resistance. Exactly how long it takes depends on the shape and mass of the sattelite. It's of very very low Kessler syndrome risk.

Cubesats in most cases must have documented materials that are burnt up in the atmosphere upon reentry, for this exact reason. They don't stay up there forever.

It all falls back down eventually. Anything too small will stay up for some time, but even the half-billion copper needles put in space by the US have almost all come down. Wikipedia says there are <50 clumps of needles left.