Tip #72 Chewing Gum - Yes Or No?

Have you ever wondered what chewing gum is? Or what does happen to the chewing gum once you are done with it? 80–90% of chewing gum is not disposed of properly and it’s the second most common form of litter after cigarette butts. Did you know that chewing gum is not biodegradable?

It can take around 50 years before gum even starts to break down. But when it comes to it, the gum is likely to take over 500 years to decompose. The problem is, that gum is made with a rubber-like substance, which makes it very hard to decompose.

The “gum” component of most brands of chewing gum is listed under ingredients as “Gum Base.” The manufacturers consider this gum base to be a trade secret and it’s not required that they list exactly what’s in it — in most cases, it’s a mixture of synthetic components that are made from petroleum. In the US, the FDA has approved of 46 or so ingredients that can go into these gum bases, including synthetic rubber, polyethene (plastic), polyvinyl acetate (wood glue), paraffin wax (a by-product of lubricating oil refineries), fats (hydrogenated vegetable oil) and talc (source).

As it's a real litter problem, for example, Singapore came with a radical solution. They banned chewing gum. Since then, many countries have introduced gum bins to help clean the streets; it’s been so successful it cut down gum litter by 46% (source).

Even though the mints could solve our problem and substitute the chewing gums with fresh breath, if you can't imagine your life without chewing gums, there is a solution. It seems that there are coming more options for sustainable chewing gums made from plant-based ingredients rather than petrochemicals depending on where are you from.