New funding to help reduce chewing gum litter made available to local authorities 

Grants of up to £27,500 are to be made available for councils across the UK to tackle chewing gum pollution in the third year of a special grant fund to tackle chewing gum litter.

 

Set up by Defra - in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, Scottish Government and Welsh Government - the Chewing Gum Task Force brings together major chewing gum producers (including Mars Wrigley, Perfetti Van Melle and a producer of nicotine replacement therapy gum) in a partnership to remove gum litter from UK high streets and prevent future littering.

 

The scheme, administered by independent charity Keep Britain Tidy, sees the chewing gum firms invest up to £10 million over five years to achieve two objectives; cleaning up historic gum staining and changing behaviour so that more people bin their gum.   

  

In 2023, 55 councils across the country benefitted from a grant, helping clean an area equivalent to the size of the Vatican City, figures have shown. 

 

Today, the Chewing Gum Task Force announces the start of its third year of grants of up to £27,500 to allow councils to purchase specialist chewing gum cleaning equipment and/or increase street cleansing, This marks a 10% increase on last year's grants.

 

The grants are supplemented by fully-funded gum litter prevention packages for each council, including targeted behaviour change signage and advice, designed and produced by social enterprise Behaviour Change.  

  

The scheme’s second annual report, released this week, shows that the 55 councils benefitted from £1.65m funding in 2023, which helped to clean an estimated 440,000 m2 of pavements.  

 

More than 70% of councils used their grant to purchase new equipment, ensuring that they will continue to benefit after the project ends.

 

By combining targeted street cleansing with specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum, participating councils have seen reductions in gum littering of up to 80% in the first two months, with a reduced rate of gum littering still being observed after six months. 

  

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “After a second highly successful year of tackling gum littering, I am delighted that we are able to continue to support councils through a third year of grant awards and encourage communities to take pride in their local areas by keeping their streets clean. 

 

“Gum is an unsightly form of litter in our public spaces that causes harm to our environment as it takes years to decompose naturally – and, ultimately, costs the taxpayer to clean it up.” 

  

Naomi Jones, Corporate Affairs Director at Mars Wrigley UK, said: "Mars Wrigley has a proud track record of investing in litter prevention initiatives. In its first two years, the Chewing Gum Task Force has already made incredible progress, supporting 92 councils in every corner of the country to clean almost 3,000,000 m2.  

 

“The Task Force’s work has shown that reductions in gum litter can be sustained over time, and we’re looking forward to building on these achievements and going even further together in the coming year.” 

   

Hayley Osborne, Communications & Sustainability Manager at Perfetti Van Melle, added: “As we reach the midpoint of the Chewing Gum Task Force’s campaign, it’s amazing to witness the positive effects the chewing gum clean-up operations have had on our streets, the shift in citizens’ behaviours and the significance and value recognised by the UK councils involved.  

 

“As we begin the third year, we’ve taken the learnings and experiences from the first two years and will use these to enhance all efforts to make another positive impact for all involved.”  

  

From today the fund is open to councils in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who wish to clean the gum off their pavements and invest in long-term behaviour change to stop it being dropped.  

 

To apply, please visit www.keepbritaintidy.org/chewing-gum-task-force, where you can also find more information about the fund and download the first annual report.   

  

Applications close at 5pm on 28 March 2024 and decisions will be announced by the end of May 2024.