An innovative way of recycling chewing gum

In terms of the amount of time and money that it costs, chewing gum is among one of the most draining forms of littering for councils across the UK. The Local Goverment Association which represents councils said that the cost for cleaning up gum from pavements costs around £60 million every year and has urged manufacturers to foot the bill.

While many councils have turned to jet-washing, expensive ad campaigns and providing recycled paper sheets to fold around gum, the problem continues with councils in cities such as Manchester spending almost £40,000 on clean-up operations, removing enough gum to cover a dozen football pitches.

However, an innovative new method of tackling the problem of chewing gum waste has been revealed which involves recycling it than just removing it and send it to landfill sites.

The Gumdrop bin which was thought up by UK designer Anna Bullus promises to tackle gum litter by collecting gum in the street and recycling it into useful products.

The pink bubble shaped bins are placed in strategic spots throughout cities and towns where chewing gum is a big problem and they are shaped like pink bubbles in an attempt to encourage people to dispose of their gum in them. The gum is then recycled into a new plastic polymer called BRGP (Bullus Recycled Gum Polymer) which can be used to make a variety of products including wellington boots, mobile phone covers, stationary, packaging and more ‘Gumdrop’ bins!

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