Chewing Gum Task Force

In just three years, the Task Force has already awarded over £4.88 million in grants, funded the cleaning of over 3.4 million square meters of pavements, and achieved litter reductions of up to 80% in funded areas.

Working together to clean and prevent gum litter 

The Task Force, established by Defra and administered by Keep Britain Tidy, is funded by major chewing gum producers (including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle). These firms are investing up to £10 million over five years to meet two key objectives: 

1. Cleaning up historic gum staining.
2. Driving behaviour change to ensure more people bin their gum.

Resources and key learnings 

To ensure your application is based on best practice, review the key findings and strategies employed by previous successful applicants: 

• Year Three Report: Summarises the latest initiative results and shares key learnings from the first three years of the Task Force. You can view a copy of the report below.
• Gum Litter Prevention Toolkit: Access proven resources for developing effective local campaigns.

Past recipients and reports 

• Which councils received funding? View the full list of recipients from Year One (2022), Year Two (2023), Year Three (2024) below.
• Previous reports: Access the Chewing Gum Task Force Year One, Year Two and Year Three annual reports above. 

Have questions? If you have any questions about the 2026 funding process, please get in touch:

Get in touch