Lime bikes dumped in canals and rivers ‘posing pollution risk’

Hundreds of Lime e-bikes have been dumped in rivers and canals since hire schemes were introduced across England – raising concerns about pollution and flooding.

The Canal and River Trust said it was a national problem and was having to spend thousands of pounds retrieving the bikes from waterways.

The charity said Nottingham was a particular hotspot, with eight or nine Lime bikes pulled from the canal each week.

Lime, the US company that runs the hire scheme in Nottingham and other cities, told the BBC it is working with various authorities to tackle the problem.

According to the Environment Agency, electric bikes pose a pollution risk because the batteries contain substances that can enter a watercourse if they remain submerged in water.

The Canal and River Trust said the number of Lime bikes being dumped nationally “could be into the thousands”.

“Whilst the quantities are a concern, and this is a drain on our resources, it’s worth remembering one bike alone can easily cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to a boat, tens of thousands of pounds of damage to canal infrastructure, and an incalculable value of damage to wildlife,” said Dick Vincent, the charity’s national towpath advisor.

The charity has asked Lime to cover the cost of retrieving the bikes, but an agreement has not been reached.

“If I’m being honest, I would like them to answer their emails and get back to us,” said Mr Vincent.

“They seem to be ignoring this as a problem, and that’s a real shame.”

Toni Robinson, founder of the Little Litter Pickers of Nottingham, said her group had retrieved 23 Lime bikes from just a short stretch of the River Leen, in the Bulwell area of the city.

She said she had written to Lime but the company had not responded to her.

“I would like them to stop them ending up in the river,” said Ms Robinson.

“We’re trying to keep the river clean from pollution and then we’ve got these bikes that are polluting the river more than probably any rubbish we’ve ever found was.”

Ms Robinson is particularly concerned because e-bikes are powered by lithium-ion batteries, and she is worried about substances entering the water.

She believes Lime should have docking bays to keep the bikes locked up unless people pay to ride them.

“I think young people get bored and think ‘I’ll throw it in the river’,” said Ms Robinson.

“It’s just been ongoing. We pick one out and there’s another one in there.”

Ethan Radford, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council, is so concerned he has been putting on waders and entering the River Leen himself to retrieve the Lime bikes.

He said it started happening after the Lime scheme was introduced two years ago, in spring 2023.

“On one particular occasion I think we pulled out about five bikes in one day,” said Radford, who has been helping Ms Robinson’s group.

“There’s obviously the environmental concerns. These things don’t belong in the river. It’s a natural habitat.”

The Environment Agency said it was in the process of setting up a meeting with Lime following “repeated attempts” to do so.

“The disposal of electric bikes or other waste into rivers can cause environmental damage, affect water quality, and harm aquatic life,” a spokesperson said.

“Whilst we have pollution concerns, we primarily remove the Lime bikes from the River Leen in Nottinghamshire and other watercourses in the area such as Nethergate Brook and Ouse Dyke, to prevent blockages and reduce flood risk to local communities.”

The consensus is Lime bikes are being dumped in water by people who steal them, rather than paying customers.

Lime bikes do not need to be physically locked in place at parking locations, which makes it easier to steal them.

The bikes do have a pedal-locking mechanism, but this can be “hacked” so that people can ride them without paying.

Ms Robinson said she had witnessed this herself.

“I know people can ride round with them with the alarm going off, so they can still use the bike without inputting any details,” she said.

“There are often kids going past me on the street and it’s going ‘beep beep’, and they’re riding past as normal.”

In a statement, the city council’s transport team said: “Evidence shows that it is exclusively non-customers who are causing issues, including abandoning bikes or dumping bikes in rivers and canals.”

Radford agreed. “It’s not the people who are using the scheme that are causing the problem,” he said.

“It’s people who come along after that, see a row of bikes, take advantage and do something stupid.”

Radford believes the problem could be resolved if Lime required customers to lock the bikes in bays, as some hire bike operators do.

“There’s nothing stopping you from pushing it around, putting it on the floor, putting it in the road, taking it over to the river, for example, if it’s not locked into place,” he said.

Ms Robinson added: “It would stop them being stolen and polluting our rivers.”

The BBC put this suggestion to Lime, and asked why it does not require customers to lock bikes up.

A spokesperson said: “Lime has operated a mandatory parking scheme in Nottingham since the launch of our e-bike service here two years ago.

“This is enforced by accurate on-vehicle GPS technology and our new mandatory end trip photo process. Users that leave bikes outside of designated parking locations are warned and fined, with repeat offenders banned.”

The Canal and River Trust, which manages waterways in England and Wales, said it was a problem wherever Lime had hire bikes.

Most of the Lime bikes are concentrated around London, but there are also schemes in Greater Manchester, Nottingham and Milton Keynes.

Lime previously ran a hire bike scheme in Derby, but pulled out due to what it described as “persistent issues with vandalism and antisocial behaviour”.

This included bikes being thrown into the River Derwent.

The Environment Agency, which is responsible for managing large rivers in England, said it “regularly” pulled bikes out and took them to designated drop-off points.

Lime says it is “the largest provider of shared electric vehicles in the world”, and it claims to provide a “sustainable” mode of transport by replacing car journeys.

On working with the agency and Canal and River Trust, Lime said: “We have engaged in ongoing conversations with the Environment Agency and Canal and River Trust and are eager to finalise a collaborative plan to address these issues.”

Lime says anyone who sees a submerged bike can report the location, and it will “recover it as soon as possible”.

“We always aim to promptly collect obstructive or misparked bikes reported to us via the ‘report bad parking’ function in our app within a matter of hours,” a Lime spokesperson said.

“To improve our response time, we have significantly increased our on-street team by more than double in Nottingham.”

On pollution and environmental concerns, Lime said the deliberate dumping of bikes was “totally unacceptable”.

“It harms the environment and undermines our mission to create sustainable urban transport,” the spokesperson added.

“We are committed to working with the local community, Environment Agency, and the Canal and River Trust to stop this behaviour.”