More money secured to tackle sticky issue of chewing gum on Canterbury’s streets

Canterbury City Council has secured more funding to remove chewing gum that blights the city’s streets after receiving a £27,500 grant to tackle the issue.

The council is one of 50 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fifth year, for money to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being dropped in the first place.

Established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, The Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme is open to councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent it from being littered again.

Cllr Charlotte Cornell, Cabinet Member for Council Services, said “We are grateful to have been awarded another grant to help us continue tackling the unsightly stains left by gum littering.

“Although our campaign in 2023 made a real difference, some of those who chew gum clearly still need to be reminded to dispose of it properly.

“We all have a part to play in keeping Canterbury clean, and taking a moment to bin your gum is such an easy way to do your bit.”

The council will be using the grant to clean off chewing gum in key city centre streets in Canterbury over the summer, including:

• St George’s Street
• High Street
• The Parade
• St Peter’s Street

It will also launch a series of signs in these areas encouraging people to put their gum in the bin rather than throwing it on the floor.

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 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.

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

Notes to editors:

The Chewing Gum Task Force brings together some of the UK’s major chewing gum producers (Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle) in a partnership to remove gum litter from UK high streets and prevent future littering. The scheme, administered by independent charity Keep Britain Tidy, sees the chewing gum firms invest up to £10 million over five years to achieve two objectives; cleaning up historic gum staining and changing behaviour so that more people bin their gum.

Behaviour Change is a not-for-profit social enterprise, founded in 2009. They create 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, they created and tested a range of ways to encourage responsible behaviour, which resulted in local reductions of gum littering by up to 64%. These interventions have now been made available for deployment by councils as part of the Gum Task Force Grant Scheme. Intervention toolkit: www.tacklegumlittering.co.uk

Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity. We set the standard for the management of parks and beaches, inspire people to be litter-free, to waste less and live more sustainably. We run campaigns and programmes including the Great British Spring Clean, Eco-Schools, Love Parks Week, Buy Nothing New Month, Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces, the Blue Flag/ Seaside Awards for beaches and blue spaces, and the Green Key for sustainable tourism and hospitality.

Published: 2 July 2026