Recycling used gum, and cycling through tattoo-munching cells

Abstract

Used gum, reincarnate One fine afternoon, design student Anna Bullus decided to pick up every piece of litter she could find. She brought her newfound treasures home, and then—with gloves on, the Newscripts gang hopes—examined each one. Wedged inside a crinkled packet of chips, she found the inspiration she’d been looking for: a used piece of bubble gum. Today, Bullus’s U.K.-based firm, Gumdrop, recycles those sticky wads into dog bowls, combs, and even rubber boots. Gumdrop’s signature product is a bright pink recycling bin, made in part from recycled gum, where passersby can deposit their masticated trash. The rubbery, recyclable vehicle for chewing gum’s sugar and flavorings, called gum base, is a mix of resins, polymers, and plasticizers. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration permits more than 40 chemicals under the classification of gum base, including natural resins such as chicle, as well as synthetic polymers such as polyisobutylene. The