The smart bins making it easy to keep our streets clean

The bins, which are specifically for chewing gum and cigarette ends and are positioned on lamp posts, will be officially launched by the Mayor of Wellingborough on Wednesday 2 February at 12.30pm. The bins are in Market Street , Market Place, Church Street , Sheep Street , Silver Street , Midland Road and Gloucester Place . To coincide with the launch, the council's environmental wardens will be carrying out highly visible patrols in the town centre.

Chewing gum and cigarette ends were highlighted as part of the council's hugely successful 'no excuses' campaign, which ran last year and aimed to educate the public about the problems caused by littering. Councillor Malcolm Waters, chairman of the community committee explains more: "People do tend to think that because chewing gum and cigarette ends are so small, they aren't litter, but they can cause enormous problems on our streets. Chewing gum can't be removed by the usual street cleaning methods and we have to use very expensive jet washing to try and get rid of it. All litter makes an area look untidy and it's been proven that people feel less safe in an area where there's a lot of rubbish. We use education and enforcement to get the message across and, as the introduction of these new bins shows, we also make it as easy as possible for people to do their bit."

Cllr Waters adds: "We have spoken to several other councils that have introduced the smart bins and they have told us that they've made a remarkable difference to littering in their streets, with chewing gum dramatically reduced and cigarette litter almost eradicated. We hope to have similar results here."