Council eyes cash for street gum removal machine

A council is seeking funding for equipment to remove chewing gum from pavements.

North Yorkshire Council has applied for £27,500 from Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) for the machinery.

The money is given to the charity by chewing gum manufacturers as part of the Chewing Gum Task Force scheme

The streets of Northallerton, Scarborough and Selby would be initially targeted, with the equipment used across all areas of North Yorkshire over the next 12 months if the bid was successful.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a council report stated: "The scheme, administered by independent charity Keep Britain Tidy, sees the chewing gum firms invest up to £10m over five years to achieve two objectives; cleaning up historic gum staining and changing behaviour so that more people bin their gum."

The grants are supplemented by gum litter prevention packages for each council, including behaviour change signage and advice, which is designed and produced by social enterprise Behaviour Change.

Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation, said the application followed their success in bidding for support in 2024.

"We are hoping to purchase more equipment to support our street cleansing efforts across even more areas within the county."

He said chewing gum was the second-most littered item, after cigarette ends.

"It's particularly tricky to remove, does not biodegrade and poses a particular risk to wildlife," he added.

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