Tackling gum disposal

The Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) took to the streets of Tipperary recently as a part of its summer roadshow. The interactive roadshow works with local authorities and communities across the country to carry out fun and engaging education and awareness initiatives that demonstrate the proper means of gum disposal and raise awareness of the environmental and fiscal impacts of gum litter. Now in its seventeenth year, the campaign is a collaboration between Food Drink Ireland, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the chewing gum industry, and local authorities.

One in seven people continue to drop their gum on the ground, according to new findings from the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT), the national awareness campaign which aims to make gum litter an issue of the past. This accounts for 19% of men and 9% of women, showing a higher tendency in men to not properly dispose of their gum.

Attitudes towards gum litter continue to change, as children are educated on the negative environmental and fiscal impacts of gum litter. The GLT 2023 campaign had a positive impact on both attitudes and behaviour regarding gum disposal, with a 5% increase in those reporting ‘always’ or ‘usually’ putting their chewed gum in the bin, bringing the figure to a record high of 92%. The latest results of the National Litter Pollution Monitoring report (2022) also reflect this behavioural change, showing a continuous decline of percentage of gum as a proportion of litter at 8.6%.

The GLT research also found that the biggest deterrent of gum litter is peer pressure, however 1 in 4 of state they have changed their behaviour as a result of the educational messaging from the Bin-it campaign.

The GLT campaign travels across the country, working with local authorities to host its summer roadshow, which promotes responsible gum disposal by highlighting the environmental impacts of gum and general litter. This is supplemented by the ‘Bin It!’ school roadshow and a social media campaign to target 16 to 24-year-olds.

A further positive impact of the campaign is evident from the 16% of young people who reported having stopped the habit of ‘dropping or spitting’ gum recently post campaign.

The Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council, Cllr Declan Burgess, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Gum Litter Taskforce to Tipperary. It is a great initiative that helps us to educate and inform the people of Tipperary of the negative impacts of gum litter on our local community.

“The reduction of gum litter in recent years is a testament to the success of the campaign and we look forward to seeing the progressive positive change the campaign brings in years to come.”

This year’s campaign will see representatives from the Gum Litter Taskforce working with local authorities and communities to carry out education and awareness initiatives that demonstrate the proper means of gum disposal and raise awareness of the environmental and fiscal impacts of improper disposal.