I am pleased to share that JWS has received funding for some street deep cleans to remove chewing gum and reduce gum littering in Elmbridge, in support of our Keep Elmbridge Tidy campaign.
There was specific criteria for the funding and for the type of pavement that the machinery can be used on. As Walton high street recently has its own deep clean through the Walton BID, streets in the commercial area on Walton Road, Molesey and The Parade in Claygate have been selected to benefit from this gum deep clean.
The scheduled deep cleans will start in Leatherhead on 18 August, come to Elmbridge and then move on to Surrey Heath. We will support JWS in issuing comms to lets residents know about the street cleans. The funding also includes signage to deter gum dropping which will be attached to the bins on these roads.
JWS was one of 54 across the country that successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its third year, for funds to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered again.
Established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme is open to councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum from being dropped in the first place.
The Task Force is funded by major gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, with an investment of up to £10 million spread over five years.