A Saga survey supports a tax on chewing gum to pay for clean-up costs. Is this a reasonable levy or just a reflection of grumpiness among older people?
The over-50s are calling for a tax on chewing and bubble gum to help fund a clean-up campaign and encourage the use of degradable natural gum, according to research by Saga.
Of the 14,000 people that responded to the Saga Populus Panel, 82% supported the idea of a levy on synthetic gum: 21% thought a 1p tax per piece of gum was appropriate, while 20% thought 10p per piece was reasonable.
Britons are estimated to chew about 1bn pieces of gum a year, so a 10p levy would raise £100m towards the £150m clean-up costs paid by local councils. More importantly, Saga says, a tax that pushes up the cost of a pack of Wrigleys Extra gum (10 pieces) from its rrp of 35p to £1.35 could persuade consumers to switch to biodegradable gum – the only kind available until the 1950s.
Wrigley claims that taxing gum would make the litter problem even worse. "Research shows that consumers claim they would be more likely to drop gum as they feel they have already paid for the clean up," it said.
It also points out that natural gum degrades no faster than synthetic, and is actually a lot more sticky and could lead to sustainability problems in terms of forestry.
Unsurprisingly, its approach to the issue doesn't involve making the product more expensive: "Gum litter is caused by the irresponsible behaviour of a small minority of chewers who need to be educated to dispose of their litter properly.
"Consequently, we believe that a fully integrated approach encompassing education and enforcement is required to tackle this issue in an effective and sustainable manner."
But Emma Soames, editor at large for Saga Magazine, maintains that a tax is the right way forward: "Look along many of our nation's high streets and you see polka dot pavements caused by gum. It costs local taxpayers millions each year to clean up the worst of the mess, and probably costs businesses and individuals much more.
"If each pack of synthetic gum was increased to cost 50p more it would encourage miscreant masticators to think twice about spitting it on the floor and encourage them to seek out a natural biodegradable alternative. It might also make them more careful about how they dispose of it."
Saga claims that despite the best efforts of chewing gum providers and campaign groups, too many people still adopt the "spit and go" approach to disposal, and that it wasn't surprising that Londoners were most in favour of the chewing gum tax.
Really? I walk around London all the time and can't remember the last time my feet were stuck to the pavement by a glob of grey, or I inadvertantly wedged my fingers into someone else's soggy offering under a seat or table. And a straw poll of people at the Guardian has produced similar results.
Our office is near King's Cross – surely stations are prime areas for gum chewing? So either councils are being super efficient at removing gum (hard to believe when they don't notice potholes the size of an asteroid crater), or people are already disposing of their gum more considerately – either by putting it in a bin or swallowing it.
Which begs a question for you to chew over: does this survey simply reflect grumpy 50-somethings resenting the mastications of a younger generation?
