Plans to remove gum and “restore pride in our streets” have been unveiled by Haringey Council, which has joined a campaign by the Keep Britain Tidy environment charity to help reduce litter.
Street cleansing was a major issue in the council’s recent ‘state of the borough’ public consultations, with two-out-of-three people putting it top of their list of things to do.
Haringey is one of 52 local authorities that has joined the charity’s Chewing Gum Task Force programme, now in its fourth year.
“Chewing gum is unsightly litter,” the charity’s chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said. “Our scheme thankfully is leading to reductions.
“People need to remember that dropping their chewed gum irresponsibly can harm our environment as it takes years to decompose — and ultimately costs the public purse to clean it up.”
The Task Force scheme set up by the Environment Department in Whitehall is open to local authorities wanting to clean up gum and support a long-term ‘public behaviour change’ programme to educate those who chew, by nudging them into better habits and not to spitting the stuff out in the street in first place.
The nationwide programme is funded by gum manufacturers themselves, up to £10 million spread like gum over five years.
Environment Minister Mary Creagh said: “Chewing gum litter is a stain on our communities. But these grants give local councils power to tackle this issue head-on.
“We are committed to ending our ‘throwaway’ society such as banning single-use vapes.”
The yearly bill for the clean-up costs local authorities around £7 million a year, according to Keep Britain Tidy, with 99 per cent of all shopping areas plagued by gum stains.
But the sticky eyesore is being reduced by as much 80 per cent over two years in areas where the clean-up has been introduced, it is estimated. Further reductions are being observed after targeted street cleansing where signs are put up to persuade the chewing public to put their chewed-up gum in a litter bin.
