Wigan-based Keep Britain Tidy campaign to blitz the menace of chewing gum has been hailed a success

The first year of a scheme to help councils tackle chewing gum litter, funded by some of the manufacturers, has led to reduction of up to 80 per cent in the amount of gum being dropped in the first two months.
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Grants from the Chewing Gum Task Force were awarded to 53 local authorities in 2022, stretching from the Shetland Isles to Mid-Devon, Belfast and Swansea to Southend.

The money could be used by councils to fund the cleansing of gum or to buy specialist equipment.

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A council worker using an Aqua Fortis, or "Gumbuster", in a bid to remove chewing gum from roads and pavementsA council worker using an Aqua Fortis, or "Gumbuster", in a bid to remove chewing gum from roads and pavements
A council worker using an Aqua Fortis, or "Gumbuster", in a bid to remove chewing gum from roads and pavements
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In addition, the councils could access specially designed signage to encourage people to dispose of their gum responsibly by putting it in a bin.

In total, 2.5sq km of pavement was cleaned by the councils across the UK – an area larger than 467 football pitches – and more than half of the councils used the money to purchase new equipment to help deal with the problem in the long term.

Commenting on the success of the first year of the scheme, which is administered by Wigan-based Keep Britain Tidy, the charity’s CEO Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “Chewing gum blights every pavement in the country.

“This funding from the chewing gum industry, which I am delighted to say will continue in 2023, has allowed councils to start to tackle the problem without having to rely on existing resources.

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“To see reductions of up to 80 per cent shows just what the impact can be of cleaning and then prompting people to bin their gum with behaviourally designed signage.

“We hope many more councils will benefit from the scheme in the coming years.”

Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: “Chewing gum litter is a horrible stain on our streets, and the costs of cleaning up the mess is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money. This scheme gives councils right across the country a big helping hand to ensure less gum finds its way on to our pavements.”

Adam Grant, general manager of Mars Wrigley UK, which is helping fund the scheme, said: “We have invested in campaigns to tackle litter across the UK for many years.

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“We’ve been delighted to see the remarkable results achieved by councils through the Chewing Gum Task Force. We hope that many more councils will apply in year two.”

Hayley Osborne, communications and sustainability Manager at Perfetti Van Melle, said: “Our involvement with the Task Force allows us to play a significant part in the solution to the unfortunate impact chewing gum litter causes on our streets. We are pleased with the sizeable difference it has already made across the country within its first year.”

The 2023 scheme is now open for applications. Find out more at keepbritaintidy.org/chewing-gum-task-force