Rubbish cleared in East European river (5)
I believe the answer is:
rhine
'european river' is the definition.
(river in Europe)
'rubbish cleared in east' is the wordplay.
'cleared' suggests removing the centre (the inside letters are cleared out).
'east' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'rubbish' with its centre taken out is 'rh'.
'rh'+'in'+'e'='RHINE'
(Other definitions for rhine that I've seen before include "Great European river with Lorelei Rock" , "River of Cologne" , "water" , "Major European river" , "fed by 8 [RHUR]" .)