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.

The vacuum has been described as a "world first". (9NEWS) (9news)

The floating vacuum has been on trial for the past week. (9NEWS) (9news)

“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.

Bikes were among the objects removed from the river this week. (9NEWS) (9news)

“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”.

More than a million dollars is spent on removing rubbish from the Yarra each year. (9NEWS) (9news)

“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.