How two bright pink ball-shaped bins could help keep Shropshire town's streets clean
Bright pink bins have been installed in a Shropshire town centre in a bid to turn a common scourge of the streets into something useful.
The neon pink spherical repectacles, about the size of small bowling balls, have been installed in Oswestry, outside Costa in Cross Street and near Home Bargains in Bailey Street, for people to deposit their used gum in.
The two locations were identified as "very high gum areas" last year by town councillor Fiona Wilson, who proposed the town council install the bins to help tackle what she described as Oswestry's "gum problem". At the time Councillor Wilson said the cost to the council of a two-year subscription would be around £700.
They are the brainchild of Gumdrop Ltd, which describes itself as the first company in the world to recycle waste chewing gum by converting it into 'GUM-TEC' compounds which can be used in place of conventional rubber and plastic compounds to create items including shoes, coffee cups, food containers and more bins.
Oswestry's 'gumdrops' have been fixed to existing posts in a two-year trial. Once they are full the deposited gum will be collected and recycled, giving discarded gum a second life rather than a permanent home on the pavement.
Town mayor Rosie Radford and representatives from the Marches School attended the launch of the bins this morning (March 10).
Mayor Rosie Radford said: “Binning gum so it can be recycled into something useful, rather than dropped on the floor, is a no-brainer. We are always looking for new ways to keep Oswestry tidy, and this is a great opportunity to work with our community.
"The Marches School is considering installing one and is keen to see how the trial goes. I really hope the Gumdrop bins help change people’s behaviour.”
Pam Robinson, careers adviser at The Marches School, was joined by Year 10 students Seth and Cian. She said: “It’s great to get young people involved. This initiative fits well with campaigns they’ve run on litter.
"We really hope it takes off and has some impact.”
In 2023 the then Conservative Government's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs cited Keep Britain's Tidy research which found that around 77 per cent of England's streets and a shocking 99 per cent of its "retail sites" were stained with chewing gum.
