Guess how much chewing gum was in one classroom?

It's a conundrum for schools; chewing gum is banned so wouldn't a specific chewing gum waste system contradict their policy?

Schools often know they have a problem with students chewing gum whilst on campus but it's simply a hard misdemeanour to police. 

Other schools are in denial that they have a problem, citing the rules being followed by the majority of students. However, turn over any desk on campus at random and the reveal may tell a different story.

This is exactly what we did at Tomlinscote School in Surrey, who want to tackle the problem with education and a circular solution. 

Entering a school block at random, the classroom we visited had 18 desks. The first one we checked had around 20 pieces of gum, which was about average for that classroom.

Louis, Brad and Ollie spent an hour chipping off the gum and disposing it into a Gumdrop bin, which is made from 100% recycled gum.

This process was simply to demonstrate that whilst gum is banned, there is still a problem that needs a solution.

That problem was 290g of gum waste in that classroom alone. 

Multiple by 80 more classrooms, the Dining Hall and Library and you have a guesstimate of just over 25kg of gum waste across the campus.

The Solution

This issue will not disappear overnight. However, with an effective communications campaign (that we provide) involving the students, a change in culture and habits can be achieved, we believe.

Placing a Gumdrop bin just inside the entrances to the school will remind students that gum is prohibited on site and the bins are there to serve as a visual gatekeeper as well as the receptacle that avoids gum from ending up on the ground or under desks.

If gum did find its way to a bin, it would be sent to landfill so the Gumdrop bins the only truly sustainable, and circular, solution.

The benefits of Gumdrop bins are far reaching for a school, college or university campus

• Lower cleaning time and costs
• More hygienic classrooms
• Less gum waste blighting the school grounds
• Environmental story for the students to buy into and contribute to
• Create new plastic products that can be used in the school and minimise the use of virgin plastics needed for those products
• Create a culture that encourages students to care for their learning environment and take more pride in the premises

How it works is simple.

1. Team Source visit education sector customers to service each of their bins once per term. 

2. We take away the full bins and replace with a new one. The full bins are weighed which provides data for the school on an annual basis.

3. Gum waste collected from campus is used to make new plastic products

For all Source customers, this is a totally free service, usually costing over £1k per year. 

Want to see how Gumdrop has worked at Winchester University?