Council awarded funding to tackle chewing gum litter

South Ayrshire Council has received £27,500 of funding from Keep Britain Tidy to support the removal of chewing gum on streets across the area.

The council is one of 52 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fourth year, for funds to clean chewing gum off pavements and help 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 all councils across the UK and aims to drive long-term behaviour change to prevent chewing gum from being dropped.

The Task Force is funded by major chewing 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 there has been a reduction of up to 80% of chewing gum litter in the first two months in areas that previously received funding. Reductions are still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing, supported by the installation of specially designed signage which encourages people to bin their chewing gum.

Councillor Martin Kilbride, South Ayrshire Council's Portfolio Holder for Buildings, Housing and Environment said: "I'm delighted that we have received this funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force. Chewing gum litter is an issue that affects the look and feel of our streets, and this grant will help us make a visible difference across the area."

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."