Grants of up to £27,500 to be made available for councils across the UK to tackle chewing gum litter in the fourth year of the Chewing Gum Task Force.
The Chewing Gum Task Force is funded by gum producers, including Mars Wrigley and a nicotine replacement therapy gum producer Perfetti Van Melle, and administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.
Over five years, the firms have committed to investing up to £10m to help reduce chewing gum litter.
According to the scheme’s third annual report, 54 councils received £1.585m funding from the Task Force to tackle chewing gum litter.
The Chewing Gum Task Force has announced the start of its fourth year of grants of up to £27,500 to allow councils to purchase specialist chewing gum cleaning equipment and/or increase street cleansing.
People need to remember that disposing irresponsibly of their gum causes harm to our environment as it takes years to decompose naturally…
The grants are supplemented by fully-funded gum litter prevention packages for each council, including signage and advice to encourage changes in people’s behaviour.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “With every council who has been part of the scheme reporting an improvement in gum littering, the Task Force shows that working together to tackle litter and change behaviour can make a difference.
“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.”
The fund is now open to councils in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to apply for funding to reduce chewing gum litter.
