Wednesday 1 August 2018

Iceland to get UK out of sticky spot with new chewing gum

Iceland has become the first supermarket in the UK to start selling plastic-free chewing gums that won’t stick to pavements.

With more than 100,000 tons of chewing gum being consumed every year and 95% of Britain’s streets stained with the substance, local councils are estimated to spend around £60 million a year on removing them.

The new gum, dubbed Simply Gum, is said to be made from natural ingredients and completely biodegradable, which makes it better for the environment.

It is part of Iceland’s pledge to go plastic-free on its own brand products by the end of 2023.

Its survey of 2,000 adults found 80% of people don’t know what chewing gum is made up of and 85% said they were unaware it usually contains plastics.

It also found around 85% of those surveyed think brands have a responsibility to make it clearer what ingredients their products contain and nine in 10 are worried about the damage being done to the environment by plastic.

Sir Malcolm Walker, Iceland Founder and Executive Chairman said: “I absolutely detest the mess that discarded plastic chewing gum creates on our streets and the fortune that is wasted by councils trying to clear it up. for decades, regular gum makers have hidden their synthetic ingredients behind the catch-all term of ‘gum base’ which is consistently used as an ingredient on pack.

“Simply Gum uses the original, natural gum base of chicle and is fully biodegradable. We are delighted to make it available to UK consumers in our stores so that they can have a real choice about what they are consuming and the impact they make on the environment.”