Regularly advertised for its oral health benefits, chewing gum can offer fresher breath and a light cleaning of the teeth which can be particularly pleasant when you have a long day ahead. However, nearly all regular chewing gum actually contains a polymer, a type of plastic also found in your car tyres. Not so appealing now, right?
But why is it such a surprise to most people that chewing gum contains plastic? This unregulated, profit-first based industry purposely never talks about the plastic in its products for obvious reasons. Knowing that your favourite chewing gum is actually a flavoured piece of plastic, makes the whole concept a whole lot less appealing! Sadly, however this means most people don’t give a second thought to what their chewing gum is really made from and the damage it causes to our environment.
But there are some amazing brands going back to basics, and developing tasty gum with more natural bases that are completely plastic-free. Shop plastic-free chewing gum here >
Table of Contents
Does Chewing Gum contain Plastic?
The simple answer to this is, yes, most big brand chewing gum is made from a gum-base which often contains plastic.
One of the ways that chewing-gum companies keep this away from consumers is by referring to a ‘gum base’ on its ingredients list. This gum base, however, contains plastic such as polyvinyl acetate.
Does Wrigley’s Extra Contain Chewing Gum?
Yes, Wrigley’s Extra currently uses polyvinyl acetate, a type of plastic, in their chewing gum.
Do Airwaves Chewing Gum Contain Plastic?
Yes, Airwaves uses plastic in their chewing gum’s gum base.
Do Orbit Chewing Gum Contain Plastic?
Yes, Orbit chewing gum does contain plastic. Orbit is owned by UK company, Wrigley.
Does Hubba Bubba Chewing Gum Contain Plastic?
Yes, Hubba Bubba is owned by Wrigley and uses the same polyvinyl acetate plastic gum base as their other chewing gum brands.
What Plastic is in Chewing-gum?
Before the main-stream adoption of synthetic plastic being put in chewing gum in the 1960s, gum was produced with chicle. Chicle is a natural latex substance from the sapodilla tree, Chicle is fully biodegradable and is a much less-damaging substance in comparison to plastic.
However, plastic-based gum has become the norm for most mainstream brands due to its low-cost and perceived to provide customers with a preferred chewing experience.
Different plastics can be used to create a gum base, with the most popular types being Polyethylene and Polyisobutylene Polyvinyl acetate.
How Much Plastic Waste comes from Chewing Gum?
Chewing gum is a regular habit for a lot of adults around the world, and as a result of this chewing gum contributes around 100,000 tones of plastic pollution to the world.
“It is estimated that in the next 5 years, over 1 million metric tonnes of chewing gum will be produced, chewed and thrown away, totally unregulated and without anyone really knowing what the implications are.” (Ref 1)
Is Chewing Gum Compostable?
All chewing-gum such as Wrigley’s extra, Airwaves and Orbit that feature a plastic-base gum is definitely not compostable. These gums quite simply won’t break down due to the plastic content, and therefore cannot be put in a compost heap. A natural, non-plastic-based alternative gum will biodegrade much quicker than traditional, plastic-based gum.
Is Chewing Gum Biodegradable?
Sadly, most chewing gum due to its plastic base is definitely not biodegradable or compostable. In fact, the plastic-based substance will last for many, many years, and is incredibly hard to biodegrade. It’s likely that a piece of gum will start to degrade in 50 years, but could take up to 500 years to fully degrade if given the correct conditions.
Chewing gum with a plastic gum base poses more issues than just the obvious plastic waste. This incredibly hard to get rid of substance ends up causing major littering issues on sidewalks, pavements, and roads. When thrown away, chewing gum can also be a hazard to any wildlife or domestic animals that decide to pick up and eat discarded chewing gum.
The plastic found in most chewing gum brands is a polymer-based plastic which is made from oil. Polymer plastic is also used to make things like car tires and gives most chewing gum its ‘chewy’ nature.
Before polymer plastic was introduced as part of chewing-gums gum base, the natural ingredient used in most chewing gum was Chicle, which is biodegradable. Chicle is wild-harvested tree sap, which can be harvested from the sapodilla tree without damaging the tree making it much more environmentally friendly, plastic-free and friendlier to our environment.
What Chewing Gum Brands are Plastic-Free?
Pushing back on the plastic-based norm are a few brands that are producing plastic-free chewing gum, and we salute them.
Plastic free chewing gum brands include:
- Simply Gum
- Chewsy
- Geo Organics
- Chicza Chewing Gum
- Train Gum
- Glee Gum
Where to buy Plastic-Free Chewing Gum
Despite the fact plastic-based gum has been the most prominent and purchased choice of gum for the last 40 years, as more incredible people (such as yourself), become more aware of the plastic pollution problem, it has become more important than ever to source environmentally-responsible alternatives. Some supermarkets such as Iceland (2018) in the UK are among some of the first retailers to stock plastic-free gum alternatives.
As demand grows for plastic-free products, we’re hoping to see this trend continue and more environmentally friendly, tasty, plastic-free chewing gum being sold as the new normal in more supermarkets. Since plastic-free chewing gum is still not readily stocked in most supermarkets and convenience stores, you can most easily purchase plastic-free chewing gum online.
Browse and shop the best plastic-free chewing gum alternatives here >
References