Plastic pollution charity City to Sea, has teamed up with plastic-free chewing gum company Nuud, headed up by BBC Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Keir Carnie, to launch ‘Chew Plants Not Plastic’. The campaign urges the Government to ban plastic chewing gum and expose the giants of the industry’s misleading labelling of ingredients, which disguises the use of synthetic plastics in their chewing gum.

The campaign’s launch has started with an open letter to Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, calling for a ban on plastic gum. The letter, signed by leading plastic campaigners including Sian Sutherland (Co-Founder, Plastic Health Council), Amy and Ella Meek (Co-Founders, Kids Against Plastic & Plastic Clever Schools), Jane Martin (CEO, City to Sea), Rebecca Prince-Ruiz OAM (Founder, Plastic Free July), Daniel Webb (Founder & Director, Everyday Plastic), Jo Royle (Founder, Common Seas) and Charlotte Davies (Managing Director, Common Seas), highlights that the majority of consumers are unaware that chewing gum is, in fact, a single-use plastic.

Hidden behind the ambiguous term “gum base” in the ingredient list are synthetic materials such as polyethylene (commonly used in plastic bags), polyvinyl acetate (found in PVA glue) and butadiene-styrene rubber (which is used in car tyres). City to Sea and Nuud argue that consumers deserve to be fully informed about the products they are consuming and are entitled to better alternatives.
The UK consumes approximately four billion pieces of plastic gum annually, equivalent to four billion plastic straws. And each day, the UK chews and discards 12 tons of gum; the equivalent weight of a bus. Furthermore, 87 per cent of UK pavements are affected by gum litter, which costs taxpayers millions of pounds every year to clean up. Even when disposed of responsibly, gum is either incinerated, sent to landfill or ends up contaminating our waterways.

Research into the impact of microplastics on our health is growing. A study published earlier this month in Nature Medicine found that the human brain may contain as much as a spoon’s worth of microplastics. The team from the University of New Mexico found 50% more microplastics in human brain samples from 2024 than in those from 2016 – just eight years before. Microplastics from chewing gum have also been found in human blood* and microplastic exposure has been linked to various health issues, including cancer, diabetes and infertility. Given this, it is troubling to think that consumers may be chewing plastic, without knowing. Chew Plants Not Plastic is therefore taking action to protect both public health and the environment.

The plastic-free movement has achieved incredible victories – from the ban on single use vapes to the decline of single-use straws and it’s now time to tackle plastic gum.

Jane Martin, CEO at City to Sea says,

‘Plastic pollution isn’t just an environmental crisis—it’s a human health emergency. Shockingly, chewing gum is made of plastic, meaning every chew is like biting into a plastic straw. It breaks down into micro-plastics that are inhaled, ingested, and absorbed into our bodies. Scientific evidence links this to obesity, fertility issues and cancer. It’s time for the UK to take the final stand against plastic gum and pollution for the health of people and the planet.’

Keir Carnie, Founder of Nuud says,

‘Big Gum is today’s Big Tobacco and is responsible for a major health and plastic-pollution crisis. Plastic gum manufacturers have proven unwilling to change their damaging ways, so we’re calling on the Government to address this 4 BILLION piece per year problem and ban the sale of plastic gum.’

To further support the #ChewPlantsNotPlastic movement, consumers can share the campaign using the hashtag #ChewPlantsNotPlastic, to raise awareness and demand transparency from industry giants.