Latest news with #ChewingGumTaskForce
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Heckmondwike deep cleanse to be funded by Chewing Gum Task Force
The Chewing Gum Task Force has given more than £20,000 of funding to Kirklees Council to help tackle gum litter. Last year, 16,503 pieces of gum litter were removed from streets in Huddersfield and Dewsbury, and this year the spotlight will be on Heckmondwike and Marsden, according to a spokesperson for the council. £26,450 has been received by the council to fund the efforts. A one-off, deep cleanse around Heckmondwike town centre is planned, to complement bus station development works. Funding will also be used to clear up gum litter in Marsden town centre and at the town's train station. Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, chair of Keep Britain Tidy, which runs the Chewing Gum Task Force, said: "People need to remember that disposing irresponsibly of their gum causes harm to our environment as it takes years to decompose naturally – and, ultimately, costs the public purse to clean up." Kirklees is one of 52 councils to have successfully applied for funding this year from the Chewing Gum Task Force, which was established by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs and which is funded by such major gum manufacturers as Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
North Yorkshire Council seeking cash for chewing gum clean equipment
A council is seeking funding for equipment to remove chewing gum from Yorkshire Council has applied for £27,500 from Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) for the money is given to the charity by chewing gum manufacturers as part of the Chewing Gum Task Force schemeThe 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 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. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
