Gum Crime Scene at launch of SDCC Gum Litter Campaign

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 22^ND JUNE 2009

Gum Crime Scene at South Dublin County Councils Launch of Gum Litter Taskforce Campaign

Mayor of South Dublin County Cllr Marie Corr officially launched the Gum Litter Taskforce Campaign on the 16^th June 2009 in Tallaght, South Dublin County. Pupils from nearby Green School St. Marys NS, Bancroft Avenue, Tallaght, South Dublin County Council Litter Wardens and Environmental Awareness Officers set up a Gum Crime Scene to highlight the problem of incorrectly disposed of gum stuck on our pavements.

South Dublin County Council has signed up once again to participate in the national Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) Campaign, joining 29 other councils in the joint initiative between the Department of the Environment Heritage and Local Government and the chewing gum industry.

The Mayor Marie Corr said This campaign highlights the problem of chewing gum litter and will increase awareness of disposing of gum in a responsible way. Pupils here from St. Marys National School already know the problems caused by litter in our community as they are a Green School, they work hard to keep their school and local area clean and tidy Lets support them and remember to bin your gum or face a 150 fine.

South Dublin County Councils decision to participate in the campaign once again this year is very welcome, said Mr Paul Kelly, Chairman of the Gum Litter Taskforce. The more local authorities that participate the better as it gives the campaign more reach throughout the country. I look forward to working with South Dublin County Council during the year ahead and, given the success of the past two years, I believe we can expect continuing improvements.

The 2009 GLT Campaign follows on from highly successful campaigns in 2007 and 2008 and is focused on raising awareness of the gum litter issue in order to educate consumers about the responsible disposal of gum and achieve behaviour change in relation to the proper disposal of chewing gum.

The campaign involves a combination of 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, which runs from June 2009 until the beginning of October, represents the centrepiece of the programme of activity of the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) 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 Drinks Industry Ireland (FDII) a business sector of IBEC.

The 2009 initiative will build upon the very real and significant improvements which have been made in relation to gum litter awareness and disposal behaviour over the past two years. In the five cities monitored during 2008, there was an overall decrease of chewing gum litter of 36% since the beginning of the campaign.

In addition, research carried out on behalf of the Gum Litter Taskforce by Lansdowne Market Research shows an increase of 16% in the number of people who say they have never dropped gum while 17% now say they used to but stopped, up from 14% in 2007.

Furthermore, the perception of chewing gum as litter has increased from 79% to 87% in past year while reported spitting is also down with 80% now claiming never to spit gum compared to 73% in 2007 and 58% in June 2006.

The success achieved to date is entirely due to the partnership between the GLT and the local authorities and we hope that the coming year will be even more fruitful in terms of tackling the issue of gum litter, said Mr Paul Kelly, Chairman of the Gum Litter Taskforce. We look forward to working with all the participating local authorities again this year and will be providing support to them including the purchase of paid for outdoor advertising sites to display the posters bearing the campaign message throughout the country. In addition, we will arrange for the display of point-of-sale messages in outlets selling chewing gum, radio advertising across the country and the official GLT website will assist participating councils by providing downloadable resources and information.

The core objective of the initiative is to tackle the root cause of the irresponsible behaviour through education, Mr Kelly continued. It is through campaigns such as this which incorporate education, poster advertising and enforcement measures to ensure the greater visibility of fines for littering that an effective and sustainable solution to the problem will be found and lead to a long-term change in gum littering behaviour. It is our earnest belief that the campaign will have a real, long term and sustainable impact on the levels of gum litter on our streets and we look forward to building on the success of the 2008 campaign with even stronger results in the coming year.

Editors note

Further information:

Issued on behalf of the Gum Litter Taskforce

Paul Kelly, Chairman Arnold Dillon

Gum Litter Taskforce IBEC Press Office

Tel: 01 605 1621 Tel: 01 605 1638

Mobile: 087 202 5545 Mobile: 087 923 8188

2009 GUM LITTER TASKFORCE CAMPAIGN PARTICIPANTS:

The city councils of Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Cork, County Councils of Cavan, Carlow*,Cork*, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Donegal, Fingal, Galway*,Kilkenny, Kerry*, Laois, Limerick*,Leitrim, Longford, Monaghan, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, South Dublin, Sligo*,South Tipperary, Wexford, Waterford and Westmeath. Tralee* Town Council and Ennis* Town Council is also participating in the programme.

*Denotes new participants in the campaign.

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.

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.

Ends

Issued 22^nd June 2009