Have you ever thought about where the gum you throw away goes after you buy it and enjoy it?
The recycling processes of chewing gum are so difficult that it is difficult to prevent the damage they cause to the environment.
Chewing gums generally consist of petroleum-based polymers.
We can say that polymers are the building blocks of non-biodegradable plastics. Although it may sound strange, the gum we chew is actually plastic-based and therefore almost impossible to biodegrade.
Thanks to their polymer structure, gums remain in nature for a very long time and cannot be recycled. They also create 100 thousand tons of plastic pollution every year.
Difficulties in the recycling process
There are serious problems in the recycling of chewing gum because these tiny adhesives create a major obstacle in garbage collection and separation systems.
In normal garbage separation systems, chewing gum sticks to other materials, making separation impossible. Chewing gum is a nightmare for machines in waste sorting plants because its sticky structure prevents the machines from working properly. Therefore, a special technology is needed to separate chewing gum from other waste.
It is both time consuming and costly.
Another problem with separation in recycling processes is time and costs. It requires high heat and special solvents to decompose wastes consisting of sticky substances such as chewing gum, which is a very costly process for recycling facilities.
The same goes for the streets. As a result of many people throwing chewing gum on the streets rather than in the trash, municipalities spend significant amounts of money for cleaning. That’s why chewing gum is prohibited in Singapore.
You can also examine how and why the chewing gum ban came about in Singapore in this article.
Is there a solution?
Chewing gum, which takes 5 years to biodegrade, falls into the category of non-recyclable waste and is usually sent to incineration facilities.
Although some creative solutions have been developed to reduce the environmental damage caused by chewing gum, they are not yet widespread. For example, some brands produce biodegradable gums, but these products are still limited in quantity and high cost.
Education and awareness-raising become important in this regard as well. Knowing the harm that chewing gum causes to the environment, we can either reduce gum chewing or take environmentally friendly actions by disposing of waste in the right places.
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