City council says ‘don’t be a tosser – stick your gum in the bin’

Swansea Council and the Business Improvement District (BID) are joining forces to encourage people not to litter city centre streets with their leftover chewing gum.

Scores of stickers are going up at locations around the city centre appealing to people to stick their gum in a bin rather than throw it on the ground.

Working in collaboration with the council, BID have removed millions of pieces of unsightly gum from the streets of the city centre over the last few years and they’re asking the public to do their bit as well.

Mark Thomas, Cabinet Member for environment enhancement and infrastructure management, said: “The message is simple: please don’t be a litter tosser. Put your gum in the nearest bin when you’re done with it.

“The new stickers going up on bins and at other locations around the city centre are reminding people to do the right thing.

“Gum dumped on the ground can stick to other people’s shoes, is hard to remove once stuck to the pavement and leaves a stain even when it’s gone.”

Russell Greenslade, chair of BID, said: “Swansea BID uses specialist cleaning equipment to remove chewing gum from city centre streets as part of its cleansing and enhancement operations.

“Over the last few years we’ve removed 4.5 million pieces of chewing gum from the city centre to help keep our streets clean and prevent the drainage systems from being clogged up.

“We’d urge people using the city centre to use the bins and not the pavement to dispose of their gum.”