Anna Bullus Biography:
Anna was born in London, England in 1984. Anna left Bedales School in 2003 to
go to Camberwell College of Art (2004-2005) here she studied a foundation
course where she specialised in Three Dimensional Design and graduated with a
Distinction. She went on to study Three Dimensional Design at the University of
Brighton where her idea for the Gumdrop was first born.
During her degree Anna specialised in plastics and material experimentation,
which led to her developing an interest in recycling. One day when walking home
from University Anna decided to pick up every piece of litter she could find, take
it home with her and Google each piece to find out what happened to it once it
became waste, and what uses there were for each material. Inside an empty crisp
packet was a lonely piece of chewing gum that soon became the brainchild for
her Gumdrops. Anna decided to Google the lonely little piece of chewing gum, to
look at who was recycling it and what it was made from. Anna could not find
anyone or anything that re-used chewing gum, she quickly realised that chewing
gum was everywhere, that this was a major problem that was going unnoticed,
and with that Anna decided to give gum a second life.
Anna found herself in her final year at Brighton in a Chemistry lab experimenting
with different materials, temperatures, resins, you name it she tested it. After
hundreds of experiments she came up with a mouldable material which could be
used to manufacture a bin which would collect chewing gum and subsequently
be recycled to make new bins, the Gumdrop bin was born. Anna breathed a huge
sigh of relief knowing that she at last had a product to use for her final year
project, but little did she know this was going to become her career.
After leaving University with a First Class Honours Degree Anna gained
experience as a Product Designer with Hulger, and Case Furniture as a Junior
Product Developer in London. At the same time Anna was showcasing her
‘gumdrop bin’ project worldwide, this generated a huge amount of demand so
much so that Anna decided to leave Case Furniture to set up her own company,
to tackle the global problem of chewing gum waste.
Anna needed to develop her material into a product that was commercially
viable, so she approached the Polymers Department at the London Metropolitan
University. Here she spent three years developing her material from recycled
chewing gum which is now known as Gum-tec, and can be used in existing
manufacturing processes such as injection and blow moulding.
With her material ready and a new Gumdrop bin designed and produced, Anna
launched the Gumdrops in 2010 with Legoland being one of the first sites to take
them on. The Gumdrops have now travelled far and wide across the UK.
Gumdrop Ltd have attracted some fantastic companies like BAA, Royal Mail,
Amey, ISS, Westfield Shopping Centres and Wrigley’s. The Gumdrop Bins are
proving to be a great success and currently reduce gum litter by up to 46% in the
first 12 weeks of use.
It is not just the Gumdrop bin that has developed and grown. Gum-tec the
material Anna makes with recycled chewing gum is now being used to make
other products as well as the Gumdrop bins, for example dog bowls, rulers,
frisbees and sports cones. This range of products is set to expand and grow in the
future.
Anna has gone on to be nominated and win many awards for her innovative
ideas, including being nominated in 2010 by the Financial Times for a place in
the ‘Top 50 Women in World Business Ranking,’ in the same year she was also
placed in Management Today’s ’35 Women Under 35 to Change the Future’. In
2011 she was selected as one of Kevin McCloud’s ‘Grand Designs Green Heroes’,
and also selected as one of the ‘Top 20 Young Entrepreneurs’ by Start Your Own
Business Magazine. In 2012 she won Tomorrow’s ‘Best Cleaning Product,’ was
given a ‘Homes & Gardens Eco Designer of the Year Award,’ and was also placed
in Wired Magazine’s ‘Europe’s 100 Hottest Startups 2012.’
Anna aims to deliver innovation on a global scale and continues to pursue her
goals by educating and inspiring the public to reduce chewing gum waste.
The futures green with a drop of pink