Britain has a problem with chewing gum. A very sticky, unsightly problem.

Discarded chewing gum blights our streets, parks and shopping areas.

If you’ve ever had to scrape the horrible stuff off the bottom of your new trainers, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Even the most beautiful, historic places can suffer from this most unpleasant form of littering.

Gum Clean-up Costs Millions

A strong response is needed to fight back against the gruesome gum droppers. Of course the manufacturers of the gum products advise that you dispose of it in a bin, like any other litter, or take it home with you. But we all know this doesn’t happen. According to Keep Britain Tidy, which runs the national Chewing Gum Task Force, the annual clean up cost for Britain’s councils is around 7 million pounds, with about 77% of UK streets and 99% of its retail sites affected by the problem. These figures are staggering, but not surprising.

Chewing Gum Task Force

One lucky recipient of the Chewing Gum Task Force, which is funded by major gum manufacturers such as Mars Wrigley, is Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey, who have received a 25 thousand pound grant to tackle the icky problem. Fifty two other local authorities across the UK were also successful applicants and are preparing to sort out the issue with new gum removal equipment.

Now in its third year, the Task Force, have pledged an investment of up to £10 million spread over 5 years. That’s a lot of clean pavements!

 Don Whyte, chair of the council’s environment and sustainability committee said:

“This funding allows us to invest in deep cleaning and local campaigns that not only improve the look and feel of our town centres but also encourage responsible behaviour.” 

A low impact, eco-friendly steam method will also be used to avoid damaging paved surfaces, including sensitive historic stonework. Maintenance staff at the council will receive specialist training to ensure the work is carried out effectively and safely.

Whyte said:

“We’re pleased to take visible action against a type of litter that blights our high streets and public spaces.”

I think we all agree with that.

Keep Britain Tidy

Allison Ogden-NewtonOBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chef Executive states:

“Chewing gum continues to be an unsightly form of litter in our public spaces- though thankfully the scheme is leading to significant reductions. People need to remember that disposing irresponsibly of their gum causes harm to our environment as it takes years to decompose naturally- and ultimately costs the public purse to clean it up.”

It has been shown that in areas that received extra funding for gum removal, gum littering was reduced, even 6 months after targeted street cleansing. The installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum helped too. This shows it really is worth investing in street cleaning, leading to long term behaviour change.

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