KENYA · GUIDE 0763 · EDITION 4.2
Plastic bottle collection in Kenya: Risks and Launch Plan
Set the conditions for a safe commercial test
- Contamination
- Unstable buyer prices
A route may fill the vehicle yet lose money when bottles are wet, mixed with unwanted plastics or rejected because the buyer’s specifications were not understood before collection.
A risk list is useful only when it changes a decision. For each risk, write the observable warning, who checks it and the response before the next commitment. Do not treat a reserve of money as permission to continue unsafe or unauthorized work.
Use a small, measurable pilot
Verify relevant requirements and collect one small sorted batch.
The pilot scope is: Confirm bottle types the buyer accepts and how suppliers should empty and store them, separating collection plans from assumptions that all plastic packaging has an available resale market.
| Gate | Evidence before continuing |
|---|---|
| Scope agreed | Confirm bottle types the buyer accepts and how suppliers should empty and store them, separating collection plans from assumptions that all plastic packaging has an available resale market. |
| Output acceptable | Deliver a sorted trial batch and compare buyer acceptance with the collection description, checking caps, labels and contamination requirements directly rather than relying on other collectors’ informal advice. |
| Costs recorded | Include bags, sorting, crushing where appropriate, transport and storage, recognising that light bottles occupy substantial space and gross pickup volume can exaggerate the quantity that produces revenue. |
| Buyer response recorded | Keep source quantities, accepted material types, contamination losses, loading time and buyer settlement, using the actual accepted output to decide which collection points merit repeat visits. |
Stage the launch around prerequisites
First confirm the buyer specification and activity requirements. Then compare suppliers, establish suitable facilities and prepare the operating record. Run the bounded trial when those prerequisites are in place. Review actual costs, quality failures and cash collected before increasing the commitment.
This sequence is not a promise that the complete business cycle fits into 30 days. Growing periods, qualifications, approvals, seasonal access and customer buying cycles can require longer. Revise the schedule when a prerequisite changes rather than skipping it to meet a launch date.
Choose continue, revise, pause or stop
Continue only when the scoped result is accepted and direct costs and payment timing are workable. Revise one part of the offer if the problem is identifiable and affordable to test again. Pause when required information, permission, skills or resources are missing. Stop the affected work when safety, consent or lawful authority is uncertain.
Keep a maximum test loss and unpaid-balance limit suited to your actual funds. A successful single delivery is useful evidence, but it does not establish year-round demand or justify committing every available resource.
Tie launch milestones to observable checks
| Risk signal | Evidence to inspect | Response to test |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer rejects coloured bottles | Compare the agreed colour grade and sorting sheet. | Separate them and reconcile rejected weight rather than mixing deeper. |
| Sacks contain liquid | Check intake and empty-container terms. | Reject/resolve through an appropriate premises arrangement; do not hide liquid weight. |
| Vehicle fills early | Review bottle volume and contained-load capacity. | Requote suitable transport rather than overloading or scattering sacks. |
Outstanding go / hold conditions
- Actual grade, legal route, volume, buyer terms and accepted weights require confirmation.
- No recycling percentage, chemical treatment or current PET price is claimed.
Assign an owner, evidence reference and review date to each unresolved condition. Do not give every milestone a fixed calendar date when it depends on a crop, production, approval or competence cycle. Run only a suitable limited trial, reconcile accepted output and actual cash, and record whether the evidence supports holding, revising, proceeding within the limit or stopping.