A grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, will help Ipswich Borough Council clean up gum and reduce gum littering.
Ipswich Borough Council is putting plans in place to remove the chewing gum that blights local streets after receiving a £27,500 grant to tackle the issue.
The Council is one of 52 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, and is one of just six councils to receive the funding for the fourth year in a row, for funds 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 and second year of funding, a reduced rate of gum littering of up to 80% was seen in the first two months - with reductions still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing and the installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum.
Councillor Phil Smart, Ipswich Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport, said:
“We’re thrilled to have secured grant funding for the fourth consecutive year in row to support our waste team in tackling chewing gum litter across Ipswich.
“Ipswich is proud to be one of only six councils in the UK to have received this funding throughout the entire duration of the scheme. This recognition reflects the ongoing dedication of our waste team who work hard every day to make our town a clean and welcoming place for everyone.
"Previous rounds of funding have enabled us to invest in specialist equipment that makes gum removal easier for our teams, as well as allowing us to install behaviour change signage, and work closely with schools and community groups to raise awareness and prevent gum litter being created.
“This year’s funding will help us focus on the removal of gum in key areas in the town centre including the Cornhill, the Waterfront and outside the town’s popular cultural attractions such as Portman Road, Christchurch Mansion and Ipswich Minster.”
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 third year the Task Force awarded 54 councils grants worth a total of £1.585 million, helping clean an estimated 500,000m2 of pavements.
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.”