Published Date: Jul 1st, 2026
Fife Council today announced plans to remove the chewing gum that blights some St Andrews streets after receiving a £22,500 grant to tackle the issue.
The council is one of 50 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fifth year, for funds to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered in the first place.
The Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme - established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy - 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 it from being dropped in the first place.
Fife Council’s grant will go towards a deep clean of certain areas, equipment to carry out its own cleaning, and training, and follows a submission initially proposed by St Andrews Community Council.
If successful, the council hopes to roll out similar initiatives in other parts of the Kingdom.
Sandy Anderson, Fife Council Waste Operations Service Manager, said: “This funding is a really positive step for St Andrews.
“Chewing gum litter can have a big impact on how our town looks and feels, and I know it’s something residents and visitors alike want to see tackled.
“This investment will allow us not only to carry out a deep clean in key areas, but also to encourage longer-term behaviour change so we can keep our streets looking their best.
“It’s a great example of partnership working delivering real benefits for the community, and I hope we can build on this success in other parts of Fife.”
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.
In the past four years, the Task Force has awarded grants worth a total of £6.46 million, funded the cleaning of over 4.15 million square metres of pavements.
Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change - a not-for-profit social enterprise - has shown that in areas that benefitted from funding, a reduced rate of gum littering of up to 86% was seen in the first two months.
Reductions were still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing and the installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, said: “While chewing gum litter remains a stubborn eyesore in our public spaces, the good news is that this scheme is already driving major improvements.
“As an environmental charity, we know that every piece of gum dropped irresponsibly damages the environment, taking years to break down naturally, while also leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for costly clean-up operations.
“Everyone in Fife can play a part in creating cleaner, greener streets for all by binning their gum properly.”
