Tuam chewing gum to be tackled by new machine

TUAM Tidy Towns has launched their new chewing gum removal machine, which will address the gum litter issue in the town.

The chewing gum removal machine has been purchased by the Tuam Tidy Towns group with the help of a funding of more than €3,000 from Galway County Council under the Community Support Scheme – Environmental Development Grant 2026.

The event to launch the machine was held on Wednesday July 29 in the O'Toole's Supervalu car park and was supported by Galway County Council and the national Gum Litter Taskforce.

Members of the local tidy towns group have expressed their delight at securing the machine and are ready to put it in good use in Tuam.

Chair of the group Helen Gillard told The Tuam Herald that gum litter is a big issue in Tuam and that there are several black spots which needs to be tackled immediately.

“The arch lane between Leaf and Bean café and Shop Street is a real black spot when it comes to gum litter and cleaning it will be a slow and difficult job,” she said.

A volunteer with the Tuam Tidy Towns group, David McGrath, demonstrated how the machine works by cleaning a small area in the arch lane.

“I am going to teach the CE scheme workers how to use the machine and then they can do the cleaning later in the Autumn,” he said.

“I hope that when people see the machine being used and the labour intensity it takes, they might think twice before throwing away the gum on the ground." Studies suggest that a chewing gum can take anywhere between five to 1,000 years to decompose completely.

Improper disposal of chewing gum has been a litter issue nationwide, which led to the Government forming a national Gum Litter Taskforce to raise awareness among the public about how to correctly dispose of chewing gum.

Under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, dropping a chewing gum on the ground after use is classified as littering and the person caught in the act can be fined €150 on the spot. The law is enforced by community wardens.

“Tuam Tidy Towns are the first group to receive the funding under the Community Support Scheme for Environmental Development,” said Mary McGann, of Galway County Council’s Environment Department.

“The event here is about being visible and change people’s behaviour with any form of littering, make them think twice before throwing anything on the ground instead of the bin."

Councillors Siobhán McHugh Ryan and Shaun Cunniffe attended last week's launch of the chewing gum machine, as did the local Sparkcatchers group.