Nevo Hadas, CEO of Smartfill.
As refill systems continue to face barriers around cost, infrastructure, retailer adoption and scalability, Smartfill is taking a different approach: making the dispensing technology developed through its U-Refill pilot in Bangladesh freely available. In this exclusive interview, Nevo Hadas, CEO of Smartfill, discusses why the company chose to open-source the technology, what it learned from trials in low-income markets, and how shared innovation, standardisation and cross-sector collaboration could help move refill beyond small-scale pilots.
Smartfill has chosen to open-source the dispensing technology developed for U-Refill. What motivated that decision, and what kind of industry response are you hoping to catalyse?
U-Refill was a research pilot project implemented in Bangladesh and supported by TRANSFORM, an impact accelerator led by Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and EY. Through the project, we developed a low-cost refill machine for liquid products, specifically designed for low-volume dispensing in informal retail environments.
The project was developed in response to a rapidly growing pollution challenge: the rise of single use, multi-layered plastic (MLP) sachets. While sachets play an important role in making products affordable and accessible for consumers in low-income markets, they also generate significant plastic waste and are difficult to recycle. They are the main format in many developing countries, where as much as 70% of retail occurs through small stores.
Our trials demonstrated that refill can provide a viable alternative in these settings, with consumers showing a clear preference for refilling products in their own containers. Having proven the concept, we recognised that the next challenge was scale.
That's what motivated our decision to open-source the dispenser design. Our hope is that by doing this, we can reduce the costs for delivering refill into low-income, informal markets around the world.
Do you see open-sourcing as a competitive risk, or as a necessary step to accelerate systemic change in packaging reuse?
For us, the bigger opportunity lies in accelerating adoption of refill systems across the industry, rather than in retaining exclusive control of the technology. That is why we have chosen to open-source the small-scale refill technology developed through our U-Refill pilot in Bangladesh.
By simplifying the process and sharing learnings, brands and retailers can more quickly adapt our refill solution to their operations, reducing barriers to entry and encouraging broader adoption across the industry. A common design could also help drive bulk production, reducing the unit cost of refill dispensers.
In practical terms, how could open access to this technology reshape how brands and retailers approach refill infrastructure?
By opening access to this technology, any brand or retailer seeking to increase sales volumes and reduce its plastic footprint can use the open-source plans and adapt the dispensing units to meet any specific requirements.
Consumer goods companies could work with local manufacturers to produce their own versions of the dispenser, without being held back by intellectual property restrictions or costly product development. This significantly reduces the time and cost involved in bringing refill solutions to market. Over time, we hope the model evolves so that brands produce more products in refill formats, and that small shops can buy mass-produced dispensers easily and at affordable prices.
Scaling refill systems has historically been slow. What are the biggest barriers you have encountered, and how does shared innovation help overcome them?
We’ve encountered a few hurdles during this process, including:
- Evolving the model beyond pilots – Many refill systems have yet to establish a proven model for operating at scale. Dispenser manufacturers and operators are often expected to both build demand and carry much of the financial risk. At the same time, creating the distribution networks and support infrastructure needed to reach large numbers of consumers can be complex.
- Technology cost – Short-term pilots often end before the technology can mature, while dispensers designed for large retailers can be too costly for lower-income markets. Without the investment needed to scale, refill systems can become stuck in a cycle where high costs prevent growth, and lack of growth prevents costs from falling.
- Retailer relationships – There is an opportunity to introduce more structured refill education programmes to overcome early hesitation and concern among store owners. While many retailers and store managers are willing to experiment with new approaches, owners and investors are often more risk-averse, particularly when they are not involved in day-to-day operations. They often see refill systems as creating opportunities for product loss, as staff have direct access to inventory and are responsible for dispensing products throughout the day. While digital monitoring and reporting systems can help track sales and stock levels, they do not always fully address concerns around theft, oversight and accountability. Another challenge is high staff turnover, which means retailers must regularly train new employees on how to operate refill systems correctly, adding time and cost to implementation.
How important is cross-sector collaboration, such as between retailers, brands, technology providers, and policymakers, in making refill systems viable at scale?
Cross-sector collaboration is critical to enabling meaningful change. Progress depends on investment that supports both the rollout of refill programmes and consumer adoption. This includes developing products specifically designed to be supplied to refill systems in large volumes (such as 100-litre or 100kg containers). It also means providing marketing support in stores and through advertising – similar to that provided for packaged goods.
If brands conduct well-structured refill programmes, consumer and retailer adoption will follow. This will generate the evidence needed to build the business case.
Regulation alone is unlikely to drive change, but it can encourage it by making single-use packaging more expensive or giving refill systems the same level of support as recycling initiatives. For example, well-designed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks can help create stronger incentives for companies to reduce waste and invest in more sustainable product and packaging solutions.
Can you share an example where collaboration or shared learnings significantly accelerated progress for Smartfill or its partners?
We have had a number of successful trials including one in collaboration with Bopinc, a specialist in developing ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ business models, and impact accelerator TRANSFORM.
Through the TRANSFORM-supported U-Refill trial in Bangladesh, we learned that most consumers prefer to buy products in small quantities and need flexibility for refill solutions to work. These insights were critical in shaping both the technology and business model.
Refill innovation is about developing the right technology, but its success also depends on changing behaviours. TRANSFORM and Bopinc played complementary but equally important roles in addressing both. TRANSFORM provided the grant funding and business support needed to launch and develop the technology, while Bopinc worked closely with Unilever and local shopkeepers to generate on-the-ground insights and drive adoption among consumers and retailers.
We have also run several successful trials with food brands like Tiger brands (for rice and oats) and retail marketing company, Smollan, in South Africa. These pilots allowed us to test and refine the model in low-income communities and each one helped build our knowledge and expertise.
What role do you think standardisation, whether in formats, systems, or processes, plays in unlocking wider adoption of refill solutions?
Standardisation can help to facilitate the shared systems needed to lower operating costs, by establishing a common framework of rules and protocols. This enables efficiencies of scale, reduces compatibility issues, and streamlines how systems and stakeholders work together and share knowledge.
Many refill systems struggle with user adoption. What design principles are most critical in making them intuitive and accessible?
This is a crucial point. Our experimentation found that the struggle with user adoption is mainly caused by the need for dispensing to be simpler than picking items from a shelf in retail stores, and less expensive in informal markets.
Key human design criteria are therefore:
- Clear pricing and volume upfront - Consumers want to know how much product they are buying and what it will cost before they start dispensing. Systems that allow shoppers to select a specific quantity, such as 250ml, and automatically dispense that amount tend to be easier to use than gravity-fed refill systems, where customers manually control the flow of product.
- Flexible container use – Allowing consumers to bring any suitable container from home, such as paper bags for solids, or offering reusable containers that can be returned and used again, works well and avoids overcomplicating the process.
- Low-maintenance systems – Operational reliability is critical. Dispensers must be easy for staff to refill and maintain, and not prone to breaking or jamming. If dispensers are empty or unavailable, it disrupts the experience and can undermine repeat behaviour.
How do you balance sustainability goals with convenience, especially for consumers who are used to single-use packaging?
Making refill work is less about asking consumers to change their behaviour and more about designing systems around what people already value. In our experience, three factors are particularly important:
- Convenience – In informal markets, this often means being able to buy small amounts from a nearby shop. Refill fits naturally into that shopping behaviour and can feel more convenient than sachets.
- Quality and freshness – For food products, dispensing can be seen as a fresher and cleaner option, particularly where expiry dates are a concern.
- Affordability – Price remains a major consideration for low-income consumers, so refill systems need to offer clear value and remain competitively priced. Open-source dispenser designs help lower the cost of the technology, making it easier to offer refill products at a price consumers can afford.
- Looking ahead, what behavioural shifts need to happen for refill and reuse to become mainstream, and how can technology like Smartfill help enable that transition?
What we consider ‘mainstream’ varies widely between developed and developing markets. Our view is that the developing world will progress rapidly on refill, because it can deliver real benefits to consumers including better affordability, while in developed markets, scaling adoption will depend more on policy, education, and more proactive engagement from brands.
The challenge is no longer proving that refill can work but creating the market conditions that allow it to scale. We hope to have played a role in this through open sourcing our dispenser technology which can be found here.