A grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, will help Rushmoor Borough Council to keep its streets clear of discarded gum and to reduce gum littering.
The council is putting plans in place to remove the chewing gum that blights local streets after receiving a £20,000 grant to tackle the issue.
The council is one of 54 across the country that have successfully applied to the task force, now in its third year, 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 Keep Britain Tidy, the 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 posting up of relevant information signs.
Rushmoor Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Becky Williams, said: “We’re so thankful to Keep Britain Tidy for their generous grant – it's going to make a real difference in Aldershot town centre. Discarded chewing gum has been a long-standing issue, and we’re committed to addressing it.
“To truly make a lasting impact, we know it's important to combine street cleaning with positive messaging that encourages everyone to dispose of their gum properly. We'll also be keeping a close watch on the cleaned areas to ensure they stay tidy.”
Estimates suggest the annual clean-up cost of chewing gum for councils in the UK is around £7 million and around 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.
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.
Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, 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.”
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