Problem Chewing Gum Litter Becomes New Products-

Chewing gum litter is becoming a major concern in many countries, such as the U.S. and U.K., especially because it does not degrade and is incredibly expensive to clean up. In the U.K., for example, three and a half billion pieces of gum wind up on streets and sidewalks each year. The British government spends around £150 million to clean gum off the streets annually. To help eliminate this costly problem, many companies in the U.K. have discovered a way to reduce gum litter by 75 percent while recycling it to create new products. Anna Bullus, founder of Gumdrop Ltd., noticed all the littered gum scattering the streets while attending Brighton University. She explained to the Guardian UK that she “realized that chewing gum is already a rubber, and rubber can be recycled and made into stuff, so why not gum.” Bullus then spent eight months in a lab to uncover a way to recycle gum by extracting a polymer from the used gum, which she later named BGRP (Bullus Recycled Gum Polymer). She made pink bins from the recycled gum which people can throw their used gum, called Gumdrop bins. According to the company, if 10 percent of the U.K.’s used gum pieces are thrown into Gumdrop bins, one million more bins could be made to gather the other 90 percent. Another British company called Gummy Bin Ltd. Created gum recycling bins which have a reusable cartridge that can hold either 250 or 500 pieces of gum. The company creates products, including toys, from the used gum. “Our chewing gum disposal and recycling system has had impressive results in the UK in 2006, showing an average reduction of 75% or more in chewing gum deposits in the vicinity of the gummy bins,” said Nigel Bill, Head of Sales at Gummy Bins.