InventorSpot

In the UK, where they take clean seriously, there are Gummy Bins randomly placed around city streets to encourage folks to recycle their chewing gum. That's one solution to a very sticky problem. But another solution has been in the works in the Kingdom, the invention of Clean Gum that doesn't stick to anything ... not even your hair!

True enough, the non-stick chewing gum has been under development since 2005 by a group of scientists from the University of Bristol who formed Revolymer™ Ltd. to exploit their new chewing gum invention. During the past few years, they have been testing and testing and testing formulations for Clean Gum and they now have it ready for marketing.

Today, Revolymer announced that it has received a £10 million investment to begin marketing Clean Gum, and later this year, the British will be the first to try it in lemon and mint flavors. According to Clean Gum's inventor, Terence Cosgrove, the Revolymer chewing gum tastes and chews just like other gum; it just doesn't stick!

Lot's of Clean Gum

What Cosgrove and his team have created is a polymer that has several applications, only a few of which, like improvements to paint, cosmetics and detergents, have been identified to date. Clean Gum will be the first environmentally-friendly chewing gum, but the Revolymer polymer may be added to many other products in the future to make them green. I strongly recommend a visit to the Revolymer website to see what the company's been up to.

In the meantime, move over Wrigley® (or Mars®, which coincidentally purchased the Wrigley Company today); the £300 million British chewing gum market may just be yesterday's news for you! Your sticky gum and others like it, is the hardest stuff to get off the streets, according to British councils that spend £150 million per year just cleaning up chewing gum!

Maybe schools will allow the green Clean Gum gum chewing within their walls. After all, chewing gum has been demonstrated to improve concentration and memory and, if sugar-free, it's even good for your oral health.

via Reuters UK . Sources: The Guardian, Gummy Bins, Revolymer Ltd, and Chewing Gum Bins.

Read the whole scoop on chewing gum, including the many reasons to chew it, at The International Chewing Gum Association's website .