The Gum-Busters come to Newcastle

The Chewing Gum Task Force, run by the charity Keep Britain Tidy, has given funding to councils across the country to clean up littered gum from their streets. The scheme brings together major chewing gum producers who have pledged ten million pounds over five years to tackle the issue of gum littering.

Now in the third year of this scheme, Newcastle City Council has been given £12,500.

Alongside preventative posters reminding people to bin their gum instead of littering, the funding has also been used to purchase ghostbuster style cleaning backpacks which will help councils continue to clean streets after the scheme finishes.

Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy believes that ‘tackling chewing gum litter is a serious and challenging problem for councils across the UK’ and according to Keep Britain Tidy, cleaning litter from streets costs councils seven million pounds a year.

This scheme has been able to reduce gum littering by 60% in councils who have received funding, therefore we can hope to have cleaner streets in Newcastle soon.