Biodegradable Chewing Gum Launched

Futurist Topics - Environment

Chewing gum is a nightmare when it hits the streets and pavements of our cities, costing over £400 million in the UK alone to remove each year.  A single piece can last up to five years.  More than a billion pieces of chewing gum are sold every year in the UK and chewed by a third of the nation.

Chewing gum not only looks terrible on the streets but also damages carpets, cloths, the interior of cars and other valuable items when it spreads around the place on shoes and other objects.

A new kind of chewing gum has been made which is biodegradeable, and can dissolve in around a month. It is made from a natural chicle which is grown on chicoxapote trees in South East Mexico and other places.  Chicza chewing gum is one such product, launched in the UK in April 2009.

Chicle used to be part of chewing gum but was phased out some years ago in favour of petrol-based polymers which are stretchy and last for many years without decomposing.

The trees are tapped every eight years in a completely sustainable way. 

Chewing gum was banned in Singapore in 1994 (with partial relaxation in 2004), while Ireland has imposed a pollution tax.  But maybe technology has finally provided an answer.  Expect some governments to impose regulations banning non-biodegradeable chewing gum.

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