Trash to Treasure’ Initiative: AXA Mansard employees sensitise public on impact of waste on water

Hundreds of AXA Mansard employees have volunteered for different activities to mitigate the effect of waste on water and the environment. In commemoration of their annual sustainability week, AXA Week for Good, hundreds of the company’s employees collected waste from their homes, offices, and the environment to improve the health of marine life and raise awareness about the required behavioural change to mitigate the impact of climate change.

AXA Week for Good is a significant part of the company’s global volunteering programme, AXA Hearts In Action (AHIA), which aims to contribute to positive societal and environmental impacts through employee volunteering, expertise, related financial support, and in-kind donations.

“Through the AHIA, our employees do not just give time to great causes; we work together for a better future. We share our knowledge and expertise as a people with a shared purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters; by helping vulnerable communities around us,” said Rashidat Adebisi, Chief Client Officer, AXA Mansard.

Under the theme “Trash to Treasure,” AXA Mansard employees participated in awareness walks to sensitize the public about the impact of waste on water. Also, with proceeds from trash collected from their homes and beach cleanup, the employees will also provide health Insurance for children in vulnerable communities under the Chess-In-Slums Africa Foundation.

According to Adebisi, this theme presents the organisation an opportunity to demonstrate the social, economic, and environmental benefits of recycling waste. She said that according to reports, 88% of plastic waste in Nigeria is not recycled, which puts Nigeria among the top 20 contributors to marine debris globally.

She noted that the company’s theme of trash to treasure is to show how waste can be better used to provide health care, fight hunger, and create jobs through recycling, upcycling, and other means of circularity.
“So what our initiative demonstrates is that waste, if properly managed, can be of great value, rather than something that threatens our collective well-being and poses a great danger to our world.”

“Our Initiative also captures the two main pillars of AXA’s sustainability agenda: climate change and Inclusive protection. Removing waste from waterways and our environment supports our climate change and biodiversity pillar and using the proceeds from it to provide access to health insurance for vulnerable children addressing our Inclusive protection pillar”, she explained