Leeds Waterfront Group

Leeds' waterways collect tons of floating debris annually, overwhelming manual cleanup crews and threatening wildlife habitats along the River Aire, Leeds and Liverpool Canals.

The Challenge explained

Leeds’ waterways face persistent litter accumulation despite regular clean-up efforts. The Canal & River Trust manages 2,000 miles of UK waterways, with millions of pieces of litter entering the system annually—their ultimate goal being to prevent rubbish reaching the sea.

The River Aire, Leeds and Liverpool Canals faces compounding challenges: persistent littering despite public appreciation for the waterways, infrastructure gaps where bins are full or absent, and environmental conditions where low water levels and duckweed growth trap surface litter. Traditional manual clean-up methods struggle with floating debris in hard-to-reach areas and are weather-dependent, creating unsightly accumulations that impact both wildlife and tourism.

Local species including otters, water voles, and moorhens are directly affected by debris pollution.

Becca Dent from the Canal & River Trust emphasised the importance of working in “new” and “innovative ways” to tackle the challenge: “Unfortunately, millions of pieces of litter end up in our waterways. We’ve got birds that live along here, otters, and water voles. I’ve seen a moorhen trying to make a nest out of a trolley and crisp packets, so it’s excellent to see the waste removed.”

As the first WasteShark deployment approved by the Canal & River Trust, Leeds needed to demonstrate scalable, technology-driven results that could inspire replication across UK waterways.

The solution

Driven by the Leeds Waterfront Group, the WasteShark, operated by social enterprise Canal Connections CIC in partnership with Biffa Waste Services, provides innovative waterway cleaning with 160-litre capacity (50kg) per cycle at 2-3 mph.

LiDAR collision avoidance and GPS tracking protects wildlife while collecting real-time data on water depth, temperature, and quality—enabling long-term waterway management. Dedicated deployment ensures biosecurity compliance between watercourses.

Overwhelming community and business support has enabled the WasteShark to run extra days beyond initial projections, bringing both environmental clean-up and social regeneration benefits to Leeds.

The results

4,000+ litres of debris removed in first year of operation (2,000+ litres organic matter, 2,000+ litres plastics and other debris – equivalent to 4,000+ plastic bottles)
18.5km of waterway actively patrolled
£45,000+ secured through 12 corporate sponsors + 400+ public donations, ensuring operations through 2025-2026
Projected target: Additional 4,500 litres to be collected across 2025-2026 with expanded operations
First-in-UK deployment approved by Canal & River Trust on its waterways, establishing proof of concept for national expansion
Zero wildlife incidents while operating in sensitive habitats with protected species
Community engagement: Social enterprise model creates local employment and volunteer opportunities

Global Impact, Proven Results

From ports to marinas to inland waterways,
our smart fleet delivers measurable impact on water quality, daily!

Ltrs of WASTE

0 +

collected by the WasteShark fleet since 2016

km waterways

0 +

patrolled and cleaned annually across 4 continents

SHARKS

0 +

are deployed globally for managing all waterway types.

* That’s 1.65+ million gallons of waste and 31,000+ miles of waterways for our US friends!

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Leeds Waterfront Group

Leeds’ waterways collect tons of floating debris annually, overwhelming manual cleanup crews and threatening wildlife habitats along the River Aire, Leeds and Liverpool Canals.