Eastbourne streets are set for a fresh start as the Borough Council secures a £28,000 grant to tackle the scourge of chewing gum litter.
The funding comes from the national Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fourth year, and will be used not only to remove stubborn gum stains from pavements but also to help prevent future littering through public awareness and behaviour change campaigns.
Eastbourne is one of just 52 councils across the country to successfully bid for support from the initiative, which is led by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and backed by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The scheme empowers councils to clean up their streets and invest in long-term strategies to keep them that way.
Councillor Jenny Williams, Cabinet Member for Tourism and Place, said: “We’re delighted to receive this money from the Chewing Gum Task Force. Chewing gum litter is a real nuisance that detracts from the look of our town, and this grant will allow us to not only clean up our streets but also to implement measures that encourage people to dispose of their gum responsibly in the future. We’re committed to making Eastbourne a cleaner and more welcoming place for everyone.”
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.
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.”
