Petition · past parliament
Force the chewing gum industry to pay for gum clean up costs - not the taxpayer
Closed
183 signatures
What the petition asks
Local councils/taxpayers waste over £1million A WEEK to scrape chewing gum off our streets. The government must hold billionaire gum producers accountable for the huge costs their products inflict, and legally force them to pay for the clean up costs. Currently, they pay nothing towards these costs.
Local councils have faced 32% cuts in their budgets since 2010. It's estimated that 2,000,000 blotches of gum are dropped on pavements every week in the UK, costing £1.50 to remove each black/white coloured blotch of gum.
A gum tax needs to be imposed on the sector to help offset the unsustainable and obscene costs that local Councils are currently having to bear - and which diverts scarce funding away from social care, housing and other essential local services.
A gum tax needs to be imposed on the sector to help offset the unsustainable and obscene costs that local Councils are currently having to bear - and which diverts scarce funding away from social care, housing and other essential local services.
Timeline
| 17 Jan 2018 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 17 Jul 2018 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
183
Status
Closed
Opened
17 Jan 2018
Closed
17 Jul 2018
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.