Interview | “World’s first” refillable spray deodorant solution by Respray

September 11, 2023

“We believe we can bring the world closer sustainability, by offering solutions for customers that enable them to reduce their own environmental footprint with minimal compromises. With Respray, we have created the world’s first refillable spray deodorant solution that enables customers to continue using with their favourite deodorant format while greatly reducing the CO2 emission from their product usage.” says Andor Réti, Managing Director, Respray Solutions Kft.

Give us a short introduction to the new Respray refill station:

Our refill solution consists of a refillable deodorant can and a refill station capable of refilling these cans. These refill stations are placed in drugstores and supermarkets, where the customers themselves can refill their own deo products.

What are the new innovations’ main characteristics and its main essential features?

As a customer after you emptied your deodorant, you have to take it with you to the shop, remove the spray cap, and insert the can into the station. After the station refills your can with the chosen product, it also prints a label that you have to stick onto the can. It will show the expiration date of the product, its ingredients, the barcode, and how many refills the can has had. The station is extremely easy-to-use, with an immersive user interface that displays all the necessary steps of the refill process. The machine also checks every parameter (e.g., correct placement of the can, removal of the actuator, leftover volume from previous uses) to ensure smooth operation. Each can is equipped with a unique identification barcode, that enables the station to authenticate the given packaging prior to refilling. In our current pilot project, the stations allow a maximum of 5 uses per can.

How sustainable and/or innovative is the pack?

By using a spray can five times instead of a single use, replacing LPG propellants with compressed air, and simplifying logistics by reducing the transported volume, we can achieve 78% reduction in the overall related emissions. This includes the emissions from the production and maintenance of our refill stations as well, because they are of course a new source of emission that we need to account for.

What trend or challenge in the industry is it addressing?

In Europe, people throw away almost 2 billion deodorant cans every year. Refilling these cans reduces the overall number of new cans being produced. This saves an incredible amount of energy because the production and the transportation of new cans are energy intensive processes even from recycled materials. This directly relates to the environmental impact of these products.

What technical challenges did you need to overcome to manufacture this pack, if any?

Traditional spray deodorants use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) propellants, such as butane and propane, to expel the product from the can. These gasses are extremely flammable and can pose a safety hazard if not handled properly. Consequently, the filling of this type of propellant can’t be facilitated in a retail environment due to the associated high flammability risk. We had to use compressed air if we wanted to make in-store refilling viable.

At the time we started working on the project, there were no existing alternatives for compressed gas valves on the market, so our first station was designed to refill custom made BoV cans, as that was the only way we could use compressed air propellant. Unfortunately, after thorough testing, BoVs didn’t prove suitable for our application. One of the major downsides is that the spray experience can be overly wet, leading to product wastage and poor user experience.

What reactions have you had from clients?

After a very successful launch event in January 2023, the news of the project spread quickly in the media. More than 60 news articles mentioned Respray in the following weeks, and we were invited into a dozen TV and radio shows. Several Hungarian influencers covered the launch as well, reaching over a million people in just a few days. As a result of the success and press coverage on the Rossmann x Respray launch, we are seeing incredible consumer results so far.