Fund planned to rid streets of gum

DEPARTMENT of Environment officials are proposing that chewing gum companies help establish a multi-million euro permanent fund aimed at ridding the country’s streets of chewing gum litter.

Consultant reports have suggested the industry could be asked to pay €4 million-€5m a year to offset the cost of cleaning city and town streets and to fund a major new education programme urging people to “bin and not spit”.

The department is also proposing that chewing gum companies undertake research aimed at making gum “less adhesive”.

Last year, it was revealed the Department of the Environment was considering a levy, payable by the public, on chewing gum as it is a major cause of urban litter. They later decided against the plan and faced criticism for caving in to industry pressure.

There had been fears within the global gum industry that such a levy could be copied worldwide, like the smoking ban, with potentially enormous effects on sales.

This has been denied by officials who say such a levy could have been seen as discriminatory as it has no impact on other sections of the food industry.

Three meetings, attended by IBEC, the chewing gum industry and department officials, have taken place in recent months where various alternatives have been discussed.

According to Junior Minister at the Department of the Environment Batt O’Keeffe, chewing gum is the second most common cause of street litter with cigarette butts the worst offenders.

“It is leading to the desecration of the landscape. We have to ensure that people dispose of their gum properly and ensure that removal is more effective. A big change in attitudes is needed,” the minister said.

“Education is vital but there could also be the possibility of having various chewing gum companies sponsoring gum removal machines in the various cities. We need a new approach to cleaning up the streets. Our cities are facing huge litter disposal bills because of things like chewing gum.”

The department is also planning a wider crackdown on littering by increasing the number of litter wardens and is considering “naming and shaming” litter louts.

According to the department, foodstuffs make up 31% of all litter on Irish streets and chewing gum accounts for 29% of this figure.

An IBEC spokeswoman was unavailable for comment yesterday.