Dropping gum could cost you a packet!
News article
Statement of Accounts
A clean-up campaign has been launched by Fylde Borough Council in St Annes Square to clean up the area of discarded chewing gum and to stop chewing gum being dropped in future.
Chewing gum is the most difficult type of litter to deal with due to its stickiness. This means normal cleaning methods like street sweeping and litter picking don’t work, so an environmentally friendly pressure steam cleaning machine has been used in St Annes to remove the gum from paving stones.
This has allowed the Fylde team to clean-up the area without any disturbance to the public.
Did you know that: -
20 million people in the UK use chewing gum each year?
in the UK, we can get through more than 935 million packs of chewing gum each year? Unfortunately most of this is discarded on the streets and roads of the UK.
discarded gum can be dangerous for wild animals and pets? It gets caught in feathers and fur and when swallowed can lead to suffocation
chewing gum costs 3p per piece to buy and 10p per piece to clean off the streets?
The average cost to clean up gum from a town centre in the UK is £20,000?
The council is also running an awareness campaign on the fines that can be imposed for dropping chewing gum, which is now classed as litter.
Anyone that drops gum in a public place is committing a crime and they can be fined under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.
Councillor David Eaves, Fylde Council Cabinet member for Environmental Wellbeing, said “Chewing gum has become a real problem on our streets.
“It is the most persistent type of litter we deal with and because of its durability is the most difficult and costly to remove.
“We would like to see gum chewers use the many litter bins available in the area to prevent them from receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice for littering”
For further information regarding this issue please log on to www.fylde.gov.uk
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