As Shibata (2015) demonstrates, emerging such a large waste site is a critical matter, and we are fully responsible for that. Technology and technological devices are not natural: they are created by humans to serve them. The purpose of technology as we know it is to help people solve their everyday tasks and for technological advancement to proceed. Since technology is a continuous dynamic process, it evolves constantly. New devices replace old ones, and people have to dispose of them somehow. That is a primary factor that leads to the appearance of such waste sites. Moreover, that waste is illegal because, as Shibata (2015) states, the Basel Convention of 1989 forbade “developed nations from carrying out unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries” (para. 3). That is also a part of our responsibility as people should not deal with the e-waste of other countries such as the U.S., yet they have to do it.
Technology is supposed to enhance our lives, not corrupt them. However, Shibata (2015) reports that “approximately 50 million tonnes of e-waste is thrown away globally every year” (para. 23). We should certainly do something about electronic waste as it contains our devices, which makes us responsible for fixing the situation. We can recycle many technological devices and instruments for further usage. Thus, we can bring our old and broken phones and laptops to specific recycling organizations instead of throwing them away. Even if there is no secondary application, those devices should go to specific industrial sites to decompose them for parts or eradicate them. Anyway, both methods are much better from the moral point of view and more effective from the point of technology.
Reference
Shibata, M. (2015). Inside the world’s biggest E-waste dump. Vice.