Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) comes to County Longford

Environmental awareness campaign for the responsible disposal of gum litter 

Press Release: Monday, 1 July 2024 

Longford County Council welcomed the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) to Longford County Council on Thursday, 27 June. Working to tackle gum litter, this awareness campaign encourages the responsible disposal of gum litter in a bin and avoiding a €150 litter fine. This local authority campaign is supplemented by the 'Bin It!' school roadshow and a social media campaign to target 16-24-year-olds.

Now in its seventeenth year, the campaign is a collaboration between Food Drink Ireland, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the chewing gum industry, and the local authorities. Longford County Council are proud to have been involved this important campaign since its inception.

GLT research found that the biggest deterrent of gum litter is peer pressure, with 1 in 4 stating they have changed their behaviour due to the educational messaging from the Bin-It! campaign. The 2023 GLT campaign had a positive impact on attitudes and behaviours regarding gum disposal, with 92% of those reporting 'always' or 'usually' putting their chewed gum in the bin. The latest results of the National Litter Pollution Monitoring report (2022) reflect this behavioural change, showing a continuous decline in the percentage of gum as a proportion of litter at 8.6%.

Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Mark Casey said, "I am delighted to be here on my first official engagement as Cathaoirleach to welcome the Gum Litter Taskforce to Longford. This initiative helps the Council to better inform people of the negative impacts of gum litter on our local towns and villages. The reduction of gum litter in recent years shows the success of this campaign and I look forward to seeing further positive changes into the future as more and more of us choose to put our gum litter into the bin."

Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon said, "Through our Environment team, the Council is continually tackling litter in all its form, through both enforcement and encouraging positive behaviour change. The Gum Litter Taskforce has been supported by the Council since its very beginning and we look forward to seeing further positive change from this year's campaign."

In September, the Gum Litter Taskforce's Bin It! education programme will visit selected schools in Longford as part of their ambition to deliver 60 performances to primary and secondary schools nationwide in 2025. This is in addition to useful lesson plan material that is available to schools on the GLT website, GumLitterTaskforce.ie. 

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