Funding announced for councils to remove chewing gum from streets

The government has announced £1.2 million of funding for fifty-six councils across the country to clean up chewing gum from the streets.

Councils set to benefit from the second round of funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force. include Antrim and Newtownabbey, Cardiff, Glasgow, Ipswich, Liverpool, Sunderland and Wiltshire.

The task force was established by Defra in 2021 and is administered by charity Keep Britain Tidy. It aims to clean gum off pavements and put in measures to stop it being dropped in the first place.

It is estimated that the annual clean-up cost of chewing gum for councils in the UK is around £7 million and, according to Keep Britain Tidy, around 77 per cent of England’s streets and 99 per cent of retail sites are stained with gum.

Chewing gum producers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle have pledged up to 10 million over five years.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: "Littering blights our communities, spoils our countryside, harms our wildlife and wastes taxpayers’ money when cleaning it up. That’s why we’re working with gum producers to tackle chewing gum stains.

After the success of the first round of funding, this next slice will give councils further support to clean up our towns and cities."

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, said: "Chewing gum litter is highly visible on our high streets and is both difficult and expensive to clean up, so the support for councils provided by the Chewing Gum Task Force and the gum manufacturers is very welcome.

"However, once the gum has been cleaned up, it is vital to remind the public that when it comes to litter, whether it’s gum or anything else, there is only one place it should be – in the bin – and that is why the behaviour change element of the task force’s work is so important."

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay