February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
For the street cleaners it’s an everyday nightmare, costing time and money to deal with.
Ireland’s government has had enough, according to the BBC. It’s targeting chewing gum as well as other sources of litter such as the polystyrene cartons used to hold fast food, and the paper receipts from cash machines.
The government wants to impose a “litter levy” which will raise money for the cost of cleaning away the dirt.
A small amount, up to 10 euro cent, will be added to the cost of a packet of gum paid by a customer.
Environment Minister Martin Cullen enthusiastically calls his plan the “polluter pays principle” which he hopes will reduce the amount of littering and ease the enormous cost of removing the gum from the streets of Irish cities.
Will an extra 10 cents avoid this? Shoppers in Dublin were mainly in favor of the “litter levy.”
“Hit them where it hurts — in the pocket!” said one woman, while a shop owner said he was sick of scraping gum off the carpets of his store.