Sage-Tips

Is chewing gum biodegradable?

Chewing gum is made from polymers which are synthetic plastics that do not biodegrade. When it’s tossed on the sidewalk, there it sits until it’s removed which can be a costly, time consuming process. These gums are natural, biodegradable substances. Cities are also implementing gum receptacles to cut down on waste.

Which gums are biodegradable?

Simply Gum’s gum and “post chew wraps” are biodegradable. Chicza Gum is made by a native community known as the Consorcio Chiclero, who harvest the gum directly from 300-year-old Chicozapote trees in the Mayan rainforest.

Is chewing gum bad for the planet?

Is Gum Bad For The Environment? Yes, gum is bad for the environment, and that’s because 80-90\% of gum is not disposed of correctly. In fact, chewing gum is the second most common litter found on the streets. Chewing gum is bad from a synthetic plastic, luckily more sustainable gum is on the market.

Is Extra chewing gum made of plastic?

And fortunately for you, they’re all plant based and plastic free! We do it the way chewing gum was first made hundreds of years ago – using a sustainably harvested tree sap called Chicle as our gum base. Chew plants not plastic!

Can chewing gum be recycled into useful objects?

British designer Anna Bullus is on a mission to recycle chewing gum into useful objects, cleaning up our streets in the process. More than £14bn is spent on chewing gum around the world each year, but a lot of that gum will end up stuck to the ground.

How do you dispose of gum?

As part of her strategy, Anna created bright pink, bubble-shaped bins specially for disposing of gum called Gumdrop, which can be hung at head-height. These bins are themselves made of recycled chewing gum.

Could Gum Drop bins be the answer to gum litter?

Initial results have seen the company’s GumDrop bins, placed strategically around public areas, reduce chewing gum litter by an average of up to 46\% in the first 12 weeks of their use. And her product is blowing bubbles into the plastics moulding industry too.

Can Bubblegum be recycled?

The process takes used bubblegum, cleans and purifies it, then mixes it with other recycled plastics to make a strong, durable and recyclable material. “We use a clever process to separate off the gum from the other litter,” says Bullus.