Watford Borough Council has successfully obtained a grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, to help clean up gum and reduce gum littering.
Keep Britain Tidy have awarded the council a £7,500 grant to tackle the issue. The funding brings the council's total support from the scheme to almost £25,000 since 2024, marking the third consecutive year that Watford has successfully secured funding to help keep the borough's streets clean and welcoming.
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 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, funded the cleaning of over 4.15 million square metres of pavements.
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.
Councillor Tim Williams, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Services: “We are extremely grateful to the Chewing Gum Task Force and Keep Britain Tidy for this funding, which will help us continue improving the appearance of our streets and public spaces. Securing this grant for the third year running is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to keeping Watford clean and welcoming.”
Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, said: “Chewing gum may seem small, but when it is dropped on pavements it creates a significant and costly litter problem. It can take years to break down, contributes to environmental pollution and requires specialist cleaning to remove. This funding will not only help us tackle existing gum staining but also support efforts to encourage people to dispose of their chewing gum responsibly. By working together, we can help create a cleaner, greener borough for everyone."
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 Watford can play a part in creating cleaner, greener streets for all by binning their gum properly.”
