Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 9th July 2026 Issue no. 1218

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Chewing Gum Task Force's new £1m-plus grant should help reduce chewing gum scourge

Fifty councils across the UK will receive a share of almost £1.2 million to combat the scourge of chewing gum litter on our busy streets, thanks to grants handed out recently.

The fifth round of funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force follows an estimated 629,750sq.m of pavements - an area equivalent to more than 2,406 tennis courts - being cleaned last year as a result of the last grant.

As we are all very well aware, chewing gum litter creates an unsightly environmental problem and places a significant financial burden on local authorities.

Established in 2021 by the Government, the Task Force - administered by Keep Britain Tidy and funded by gum manufacturers - aims to tackle littering behaviour and support local councils with access to specialist cleaning equipment, helping to improve streets and public spaces.

Alongside grants for cleaning, councils are supported with gum litter prevention signage provided by social enterprise Behaviour Change, designed to nudge people to use a bin when disposing of gum. The combination of targeted street cleaning and litter prevention signage has been proven to reduce gum littering by up to 86% after two months, with a reduced rate of gum littering still being observed six months later in over 72% of locations.

"While chewing gum litter remains a stubborn eyesore in our public spaces, the good news is that this scheme is already driving major improvements,£ argues Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive.

"As an environmental charity, we know that every piece of gum dropped irresponsibly damages the environment, taking years to break down naturally, while also leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for costly clean-up operations."

Naomi Jones, corporate affairs director at Mars Wrigley UK, adds: "Mars Wrigley is proud to co-fund the impactful work of the Chewing Gum Task Force. Over £1m will be spent cleaning up and preventing gum litter in 50 locations around the UK this year. This approach has been proven to achieve sustained reductions in gum littering, by encouraging responsible disposal and changing consumer behaviour."

This latest funding marks further momentum by the Chewing Gum Task Force, with grants worth a total of more than £8 million to more than 155 councils over the five years of the scheme.

Founded in 2009, Behaviour Change creates social and environmental change, with big ideas grounded in behavioural science. Through a five-year innovation programme and collaboration with chewing gum manufacturer Mars Wrigley, it created and tested a range of ways to encourage responsible behaviour, which ultimately resulted in local reductions of gum littering by up to 64%. These interventions are now available for deployment by councils as part of the Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme. The intervention toolkit is available at:

www.tacklegumlittering.co.uk | www.keepbritaintidy.org | www.behaviourchange.org.uk

2nd July 2026