A council is seeking funding for equipment to remove chewing gum from high street pavements.
North Yorkshire Council is applying for £27,500 from Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) for the machinery.
The money is given to the charity by chewing gum manufacturers as part of the Chewing Gum Task Force scheme.
A council report states: “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.
“Grants of up to £27,500 are available to councils in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales towards the purchase of cleaning equipment and/or street cleansing this year.”
The producers taking part in the project are Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle.
The streets of Northallerton, Scarborough and Selby will be targeted initially with the equipment used across all areas of North Yorkshire over the next 12 months.
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 Change.
“By combining targeted street cleansing with specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum, participating councils have seen reductions in gum littering of up to 80 per cent in the first two months, with a reduced rate of gum littering still being observed after six months,” the report adds.
Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation, said: “We have decided to apply for the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant from Keep Britain Tidy for the second year after a successful first-time application in 2024.
“We are hoping to purchase more equipment to support our street cleansing efforts across even more areas within the county.
“Chewing gum is the second-most littered item, after cigarette ends. It’s particularly tricky to remove, does not biodegrade and poses a particular risk to wildlife.
“We will continue taking every effort we can to keep North Yorkshire’s streets clean and attractive.”
Last year, 55 councils across the UK benefitted from the special grant fund, helping clean an area equivalent to the size of the Vatican City, with funding totalling £1.65m provided.
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