Campaigners Demand Ban on Plastic Gum

#ChewPlantsNotPlastic Bus Rolls into Parliament

A petition with over 25,000 signatures and an Open Letter addressed to Steve Reed, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is calling for a ban on plastic chewing gum. Campaigners head to parliament to demand action.

Today, a striking double-decker bus made its way around London’s most iconic landmarks, culminating in a rally outside Parliament with campaigners demanding a ban on plastic-based chewing gum in the UK. The rally follows a week of campaigning across London and beyond – including at the UK headquarters of Mars Wrigley, Tesco and Waitrose – spreading awareness and demanding transparency from industry giants. 

Protest and Petition to Ban Plastic in Chewing Gum

The bus, designed to highlight the shocking fact that the UK chews and discards 12 tonnes of gum – the equivalent weight of a bus – every day, travelled past iconic London landmarks before arriving at Westminster. The protest is part of the Chew Plants Not Plastic campaign by plastic pollution charity City to Sea and plastic-free chewing gum Nuud and follows an open letter to Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, signed by leading anti-plastic campaigners demanding government action. 

Campaigners today took their message directly to the streets, engaging passersby and urging them to support the petition to ban plastic chewing gum, which has now gathered more than 25,000 signatures reflecting growing public concern over the hidden plastic in popular gum brands. Notable figures to back the petition include Boxfund and Boxpark founder Roger Wade and Yes Theory Co-Founder Ammar Kandil.

The Hidden Problem: Chewing Plastic, Not Gum
Despite its everyday presence, most consumers remain unaware that regular chewing gum is, in fact, a single-use plastic. Under the vague ingredient term “gum base,” many gum brands include synthetic materials such as polyethylene (used in plastic bags), polyvinyl acetate (found in PVA glue), and butadiene-styrene rubber (used in car tyres).

City to Sea and Nuud argue that consumers deserve transparency and better alternatives. The environmental impact is staggering:

• The UK chews through approximately four billion pieces of plastic gum annually, equivalent to four billion plastic straws.
• 87% of UK pavements are blighted by discarded gum, costing millions in taxpayer-funded clean-up operations.
• When disposed of responsibly, plastic gum is often incinerated, sent to landfill, or ends up polluting waterways.

A Growing Health Concern
Microplastics have been found in human blood, brains, and even breast milk. A recent study in Nature Medicine revealed that the human brain may now contain up to a spoon’s worth of microplastics. The potential health risks include links to cancer, diabetes, and infertility, raising urgent questions about why plastic chewing gum remains legal.

Jane Martin, CEO at City to Sea says: ‘It’s been incredible to see the support across the city today. Plastic pollution isn’t just an environmental crisis – it’s a human health emergency and today we have taken the final stand against plastic gum and pollution for the health of people and the planet. It’s now up to the Government and gum manufacturers to answer to their actions.’

Keir Carnie, Founder of Nuud says:‘It’s been a very important day for demanding accountability. Plastic gum manufacturers have proven unwilling to change their damaging ways and today has demonstrated the extent of public support for the campaign. With the petition being backed by tens of thousands, the Government can no longer ignore the issue’.

To further support the #ChewPlantsNotPlastic movement, members of the public can share the campaign using the hashtag #ChewPlantsNotPlastic and sign the petition here.

Join the Movement. Chew Plants, Not Plastic

For the full open letter to Steve Reed and more information on the campaign, visit FAO_Steve Reed_City to Sea X Nuud Gum Petition Ban Plastic Chewing Gum.pdf