MAKING glass disappear will be the new trick of a Wee County couple who are looking to fill the gap following the loss of council blue boxes.

As Clackmannanshire Council decided to axe kerbside blue box collections, which uplifted glass bottles and jars among other items, local Scott Andrew and wife Anne saw an opportunity to step in.

The Tillicoultry couple created their small company The Bottle Genies and are offering uplifts for £2 a fortnight so people who have little time or energy to take recycling to glass banks can still help improve the environment.

Scott said: "When I looked into this more and more; there isn't a single service like this in the whole of the UK.

"Nobody offers a domestic kerbside uplift service and the fact that Clackmannanshire Council used to pick up these items from us and then they are stopping – you don't know what you've got until you lose it, ultimately.

"We've had a really-really good service."

Scott wanted to stress the local authority has been helpful as he carried out inquiries to learn how he could make it work.

The couple is starting out small with minimal capital. The 3.5t tipper vehicle for collections will be hired and driven by Anne while Scott will be grafting around the back.

He fears recycling rates could come down as a result of the recent changes and asked locals to consider the environment.

Scott said: "It takes a million years for a bit of glass to decompose.

"If we send so many green buckets to the council partially full of glass, that's just stuff that's going to landfill and that's not where we want to be as a society."

The service will emulate the route council lorries used to take and the Genies will be taking the glass to Forthbank Recycling Centre.

It is understood the local authority can earn around £13 for each tonne of glass delivered to Forthbank.

The Genies will have to pay a fee each time they visit the recycling centre to offload what they collected, but Scott hopes he can receive an exemption to make the business more viable.

Despite the fact that the duo only came up with the idea a few weeks ago, they have had tens of thousands of views online and a couple hundred already signed up.

With some people already indicating they would prefer a monthly service Scott and Anne are considering offering that as well, hoping to gain enough regulars to make the idea work financially.

If all goes well, Scott hopes to bring onboard local young people who perhaps struggled at school, give them employment opportunities and potentially expand the service to neighbouring council areas.

For more details and to sign up, visit thebottlegenies.com or find The Bottle Genies on Facebook.