New signage part of initiative to stop people dropping gum in Exeter

New signage has gone up around Exeter encouraging people to use bins when disposing of their chewing gum.

The message is simple: ‘Time to bin your gum?’. And the messages – in bright pink - have been placed on bins and posts in the city centre, meaning there’s no excuse for throwing down gum on the pavements or road.

The posters are part of an initiative to get more people disposing of their chewing gum responsibly.

Earlier this summer, Exeter City Council was successful in winning a £30,657 grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force - administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy - to help clean up gum and reduce gum littering.

The money has been spent on a chewing gum removal team and liveried gum removal cart. Removal will initially be focussed on Sidwell Street but will extend to other parts of the city centre thereafter. The City Council’s Cleansing team will work closely with the gum removal team and deep clean the areas after the gum has been removed. They will also be trained up to use the equipment onboard the cart.

The  City Council is one of 50 authorities across the country that successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fifth year, for funds to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered in the first place. 

The Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme – established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy – 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 it 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. 

In the past four years, the Task Force has awarded grants worth a total of £6.46 million, funding the cleaning of over 4.15 million square metres of pavements, the equivalent of 30,000 football pitches! 

Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change – a not-for-profit social enterprise – has shown that in areas that benefitted from funding, a reduced rate of gum littering of up to 86% was seen in the first two months. 

Reductions were still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing and the installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum. 

Cllr Ruth Williams, Deputy Leader and Lead Councillor Support Services and City Management, said: “It’s great to be awarded the money for us to tackle the sticky issue of gum on our streets and I’m really pleased with the new signage, which is striking and hard not to see.

“We hope the signs can be a talking point and really encourage people to change their behaviour and bin their gum moving forward.” 

According to Keep Britain Tidy, around 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum. 

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, said: “While chewing gum litter remains a stubborn eyesore in our public spaces, the good news is that this scheme is already driving major improvements. 

“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. 

“Everyone in Exeter can play a part in creating cleaner, greener streets for all by binning their gum properly.” 

Photo: Exeter City Council.