Innovative vacuum could help remove tonnes of plastic from Yarra River

A revolutionary floating vacuum cleaner is being used to help remove tonnes of plastic clogging Melbourne’s Yarra River.

Developed specifically to remove rubbish from the reeds on the Yarra's muddy banks, the system has been on trial in the city for the past week.

“It's a high flow vac system, so it's high flow low pressure… perfect for getting light-weight items like foam, bottles, and picks it up off the side of the bank,” Doug Yardley from Clean Water Group told 9NEWS.

Collecting tonnes of litter - including light-weight plastic and 80 bicycles - the vacuum has also proved incredibly effective at picking up polystyrene.

“It just does hours of work, in minutes,” Ian Thomson from Ocean Crusaders said.

Micro-plastics in the Yarra have long posed a problem for Melbourne Water, with $1.5 million poured into removing the rubbish from the river.

While the new vacuum is hoped to reduce the amount of litter in the river, Mr Thomson said “prevention is better than cure”.

“Cleaning the river is slow, it's painful, it's tedious, it's dirty. Making decisions at the shop is what it's all about. Don't buy plastic,” he said.

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