Bristol is waging war on chewing gum litter once again, as the city secures \u00a327,500 to help scrub its streets clean.<\/p>\n
Bristol City Council has received the grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, a scheme administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, in a bid to tackle the stubborn stains that blight city pavements and discourage gum dropping in the first place.<\/p>\n
The council is among 52 local authorities across the country to benefit from the funding, which will be used to support targeted cleaning and behaviour change initiatives, following a successful campaign last year that saw more than 280,000 pieces of gum removed from city centre streets by Bristol Waste teams.<\/p>\n
Using specially designed \u2018gum-buster\u2019 backpacks filled with a heated, sugar-based eco-liquid, the teams were able to disintegrate gum from pavements, leaving cleaner walkways in their wake.<\/p>\n
This year, the clean-up effort will extend further into the city centre and Park Street. In a new move for the city, Bristol has also been selected by Behaviour Change, a not-for-profit social enterprise, to run a pilot focusing on gum littering in nightlife hotspots as part of the city’s night-time economy.<\/p>\n
Councillor Martin Fodor, chair of the environment and sustainability policy committee, said: \u201cI\u2019m so pleased that we have been awarded funding once again by the Chewing Gum Task Force. Last year Bristol Waste Company\u2019s street cleansing team put in an incredible amount of hard work by removing a phenomenal number of gum stains from the city centre. This year\u2019s continued focus on more of the city centre and Park Street will bring clean pavements to another popular part of Bristol, and with the help of the public, we can keep the streets looking pristine for everyone to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keep Britain Tidy\u2019s chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, added: \u201cChewing gum continues to be an unsightly form of litter in our public spaces \u2013 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 \u2013 and, ultimately, costs the public purse to clean it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Studies by Behaviour Change have shown gum littering rates can fall by up to 80% in the first two months following cleaning and signage interventions. Even after six months, areas showed continued reductions.<\/p>\n
Estimates suggest councils across the UK spend around \u00a37 million annually cleaning up chewing gum. According to Keep Britain Tidy, 77 per cent of England\u2019s streets and 99 per cent of retail sites are stained with gum.<\/p>\n
Now in its fourth year, the Chewing Gum Task Force is backed by major manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, with \u00a310 million pledged over five years to support councils in tackling the issue.<\/p>\n