A company that specialises in the recycling of electronic waste is struggling to get insurance cover for its facility.

Brian Cardona, the director of Electrowaste Malta Ltd, said he had spent two years visiting every insurance company on the island only to be told facilities such as his were classified as high risk and could not be insured.

Cardona buys electronic waste, dismantles the items at his Għaxaq facility and then sells them for recycling. Most of this waste is in the form of copper and circuit boards. White goods are exported for recycling without being dismantled.

“This is not acceptable,” Cardona said, adding the “unfair treatment” would lead to complications such as personal liability.

He said his facility had all the necessary permits from the Environment and Resources Authority but he could not obtain cover for his employees’ personal liability or for the facility itself.

“We have nothing hazardous and we have all the safety equipment in place,” he said.

“I asked insurance companies to come on-site to confirm that our facilities are well kept and all material is stored according to the ERA permits. 

“Unfortunately, no one turned up even though I offered to pay for this service,” he added.

“We have been operating since 2004 and we have never been rejected. I can’t believe that this is happening in 2021.”

Cardona said he had to relocate his recycling facility due to shortcomings in the previous one and this was when the problem cropped up.

Some other facilities, he said, were encountering the same problem but others were simply renewing insurance covers without issues.

'We're doing an important job'

“We are doing an important job by recycling electronic waste and exporting it,” he said.

“Today, our job is classified as one of the most important in the world and we are encouraging the country to recycle more and more.

“I can’t believe that we are then facing the problem of not being insured.”

Cardona has raised the issue with Malta Enterprise, the environment minister and the opposition environment spokesman but to no avail.

Asked for its stand, the Malta Insurance Association said it has no jurisdiction or right to interfere or question the commercial decisions of its members in underwriting risks and managing claims.

Those decisions would be taken by insurance companies in line with their risk profile and re-insurance arrangements, a spokesperson said.