"A stain on our communities" - Bristol gets share of £1 million fund to clean up chewing gum
Bristol City Council has been given a major boost to combat the scourge of chewing gum litter on the streets.
The authority is one of 54 across the country that have successfully received a £27,500 grant to tackle the issue, clean gum off pavements and stop people dropping it in future.
The campaign focuses on 10,000sqm of footway in the city centre. Trained crews use specialised backpacks with eco-friendly, sugar-based cleaning fluid. The gum evaporates under intense heat, leaving no residue.
Stretching from Baldwin Street to Broadmead, chewing gum will be removed from high footfall areas, accompanied by signs on bins, bus stops and even the pavement reminding passersby to bin their gum.
Established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme is open to councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum from being dropped in the first place.
The Task Force is funded by major gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, with an investment of up to £10 million spread over five years.
Councillor Martin Fodor, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee at Bristol City Council said: “Chewing gum stains are not only unsightly but also attract further littering. Cleaner pavements and targeted signage will encourage passersby to respect our city and bin their gum. By focusing on chewing gum removal, we can keep this popular area of Bristol clean and vibrant for millions of residents and visitors, and stop people from getting gum stuck to their shoes.”
Estimates suggest 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.
Environment Minister Mary Creagh said: “Chewing gum litter is a stain on our communities. These grants, funded by gum producers, will empower local councils to tackle this issue head-on, delivering cleaner streets for all. This government is committed to ending our throwaway society. That is why we have already banned single-use vapes, and announced a crackdown on waste crime.”
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, said: “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.”