Yes, yes, it was rubber boots, as well as soles, lids for coffee cups and other useful little things – just such a version of the “second life” of used gum was invented by Anna Bulls, a British designer.
Ten years ago, Anna began to think about how plastic bags can be recycled. And so, during one of her studies, she tested a piece of chewing gum as well. Anna discovered that the main ingredient in gum is synthetic rubber, a polymer similar to plastic.
And it dawned on the girl – chewing gum can and should be processed! She initiated a gum collection campaign for which she created hot pink Gumdrop containers. In these containers, placed on street poles, people – if they wished – had to throw their used chewing gum.
The University of Winchester was the first to believe in Anna’s case, where 11 such containers were installed, after which Heathrow Airport and the Great Western Railway joined the project. One of the largest chewing gum manufacturers, Wrigley, also supported the idea with Gumdrop. And the plant in Worcester agreed to recycle the old gum into material for new things.
According to statistics, chewing gum is the most common type of street waste, and a significant amount of money is spent on cleaning it.
For example, workers at London Heathrow Airport, where the containers were tested, reported that they saved them about $ 8300 on cleaning costs in three months.
By the way, cute containers for collecting gum are also made from what was previously the contents of similar bright pink Gumdrops – from gum. Every new item that Anna creates for the Gumdrop project contains at least 20% chewing gum.