A grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, will help Cheltenham Borough Council clean up gum and reduce gum littering.
Cheltenham Borough Council has already started removing chewing gum that blights local streets after receiving a £26,500 grant to tackle the issue.
The funding is being used to carry out a deep clean of many of the Cheltenham town centre streets, starting in the Promenade, which are hotspots for gum littering. This is being supported by specially designed signage and pavement stencils, aimed at changing behaviours by encouraging the public to dispose of their chewing gum responsibly, keeping the town cleaner, safer and more accessible for all.
Cheltenham Borough Council is one of 54 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, receiving its funding for the first year, to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered again.
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.
Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change – a not-for-profit social enterprise – has shown that in areas that benefitted from the first year of funding, a reduced rate of gum littering was still being observed six months after clean-up and the installation of prevention materials.
Councillor Izaac Tailford, cabinet member for waste, recycling, and public realm, said: “This funding will help councils like ours to clean historic gum stains and promote long-term behaviour change to prevent future gum littering across our streets.
“Over the next few months, we will see a deep clean of our pavements and walkways to ensure they are cleaned thoroughly of gum stains, hopefully inspiring people to dispose of gum correctly.”
Francesca Inman, chief executive of the Business Improvement District (BID) said: “Thanks to the generous funding from ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign, Cheltenham Borough Council are able once again to remove chewing gum from the town’s pavements. This work is vital to ensure the streets of Cheltenham remain clean and welcoming.
“This will not only enhance the aesthetic of Cheltenham but also allows a more pleasant experience for residents, visitors, and businesses alike. By working together, we can make Cheltenham a tidier, cleaner place that everyone can enjoy.“
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% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.
In its second year the task force awarded 55 councils a total of £1.56 million, helping clean an estimated 440,000 m2 of pavement – an area equivalent to the Vatican City.
By combining targeted street cleaning with specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum, participating councils achieved reductions in gum littering of up to 60% in the first two months.
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.”
