Councils awarded grant to tackle sticky situation caused by chewing gum

North and East Herts councils have been awarded £60k from the Chewing Gum Task Force to tackle chewing gum pollution in our town centres.

The Chewing Gum Task Force, established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is run by environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy. Chewing gum litter wastes millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money every year; the annual clean-up cost across the UK is estimated at £7 million.

The funding will enable the council to carry out more deep cleaning to remove chewing gum from pavements in our town centres, and to install new signage to encourage long-term behaviour change.

Cllr Amy Allen, North Herts Council’s Executive Member for Waste and Recycling said: “We’re delighted to have received this funding from The Chewing Gum task force, which will help us tackle the ongoing problem of chewing gum staining and help reinvigorate our town centres and public spaces.”

Cllr Tom Tyson, North Herts Council’s Deputy Executive Member for Waste and Recycling said: “Cleansing will begin in November and will take around two months to fully complete the areas identified in both Districts. We hope that everyone will enjoy our newly cleaned streets and smart new signage.”

The damage and staining from chewing gum costs councils in the UK millions each year. The Chewing Gum Task Force grant fund represents a commitment from the Government and major gum manufacturers to work together to find long-term solutions to this issue.