Gum Litter Taskforce announces further phase of activity in South Dublin County

10 December 2007

Gum Litter Taskforce announces further phase of activity in South Dublin County

South Dublin County Council took part in the second round of Gum Litter awareness campaign by holding gum litter awareness activities in the Mill Centre Shopping Centre, Clondalkin on Thursday 6^th December and the Institute of Technology, Tallaght on Friday 7^th December. The students from Colaiste Brde, Clondalkin and the IT, Tallaght took part in the campaign awareness activity. This involved distribution of gum litter awareness pens and keyrings which will raise awareness of the issue of gum litter and encourage people to dispose of their gum responsibly and put it in the bin. The pink fluffy boot Betty Gum Boot was also present to add colour to the campaign.

Colaiste Bride students carried out a gum litter survey with shoppers at the Mill Shopping Centre on the day. 92% of people surveyed have experienced the problem of having someone elses used chewing gum stuck on their clothes or shoes.

Speaking at the second round of the Gum Litter Taskforce awareness activity South Dublin County Councils Environmental Awareness Officer, Mire Ni Dhomhnaill commented We all need to take responsibility for keeping our streets clean. It is extremely important to educate people in order to change their behaviour and encourage people to dispose of their gum responsibly in the bin.

Commenting on the second round of on-street activity and Local Authority initiatives, Chairman of the Gum Litter Taskforce Paul Kelly said We all recognise that gum litter is a serious problem and we want to tackle it in the most effective way. The most effective way to influence peoples behaviour in relation to gum litter disposal is through a combination of encouragement and deterrent, carrot and stick if you like. The success of the three pilot campaigns proves that this works. The campaign concentrated on the positive message of saying thank you to people who did dispose of their gum responsibly whilst reminding those who did not of the fact that the litter warden service is there to punish them. I look forward to the nationwide campaign making a lasting and positive difference to our streets and environment generally.

The Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) campaign was launched nationally in July 2007. The campaign represents the centrepiece of the programme of activity of the Gum Litter Taskforce which was established in 2006 as a joint initiative between the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the gum industry as represented by the Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII) a business sector of IBEC.

The campaign has the joint objectives of raising awareness of the gum litter issue and promoting more responsible disposal of gum. The Gum Litter Taskforce represents the first time that any form of litter has been tackled in such a systematic and concerted way in Ireland.

The campaign involves outdoor advertising, in-store and around store advertising, point of sale materials and the promotion of greater awareness of litter law enforcement through higher visibility of litter fines for irresponsible disposal of gum in the local authority areas throughout the country. The campaign theme is Thanks for binning your gum when youre done and is modelled on three highly successful pilot programmes run last year in Dublin and Cork city centres and Bray town.

Mr Kelly concluded by paying tribute to all those involved in the work of the Gum Litter Taskforce. I would like to express the gratitude of the Gum Litter Taskforce for the truly great support we received from the Department, the local authorities, the industry, other stakeholders and, most of all, the general public in the pilot campaign areas. Together we have been able to develop this national campaign which we believe will have a positive impact on gum litter disposal behaviour.

The 15 local authority areas participating in first phase are the City Councils of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, the County Councils of Cavan, Fingal, Louth, North Tipperary, South Dublin, South Tipperary, Roscommon and Westmeath and the Town Councils of Fermoy and Westport.

Retail outlets and transport organisations have also signed up to support the national campaign. In total over 1,200 retail outlets will support the campaign by displaying campaign messages. Retail outlets include Musgraves through their Centra and Supervalu outlets, the Gala chain including Gala, Checkout, Londis, 4HOME Superstores, Woodies, Tesco and Superquinn. Irish Rail and Dublin City Bus are also displaying materials at the main train stations around the country and on board some of the Dublin bus fleet.

Ends

For further press information:

Issued on behalf of the Gum Litter Taskforce

Paul Kelly Arnold Dillon

Chairman Press Office

Gum Litter Taskforce IBEC Press Office

Tel: 01 605 1621 Tel: 01 605 1637

Mobile: 087 202 5545 Mobile: 087 923 8188

Editors Notes

About the Gum Litter Taskforce

The Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) was established following a negotiated agreement between the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the chewing gum industry.

The joint initiative is the result of negotiations between the Department and Food and Drink Industry Ireland a business sector of IBEC - on behalf of the chewing gum industry. This follows the publication of the Government Study on Chewing Gum, Fast-Food packaging and ATM receipt litter. It is the first of a series of agreements to be concluded with the Banking, Fast Food and Chewing Gum industries following the recommendations by a consultants' report to the Department.

The GLT is charged with developing and implementing an Action Programme to tackle gum litter in the most sustainable way by changing behaviour, the root cause of the issue.

Members of the GLT include representatives of the chewing gum industry, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Food and Drink Industry Ireland, Department of Education and Science, ENFO, ECO UNESCO, Foroige, local authority representatives and Retail Ireland.

The National Campaign is a joint initiative between the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the gum industry as represented by the Food & Drinks Industry Ireland (FDII) division of IBEC.

For further information contact:

Maire Ni Dhomhnaill or Claire Hinch, Environmental Awareness Section, South Dublin County Council

mnidhomhnaill@sdublincoco.ie

chinch@sdublincoco.ie