New Eco Friendly aerosol valve pioneered at Salford hits shops across the country

An environmentally friendly aerosol valve developed by the University of Salford is now being used in some of the biggest retail chains in the country.

Work on the Salvalco Eco-Valve, developed by the Spray Research Group (SRG) at Salford, began in 2007 and it is now being used in dozens of products worldwide, some of which are being currently sold at Tesco and Boots outlets.

It is a brand-new valve designed to enable aerosols to be sprayed successfully by harmless gases such as nitrogen or simply compressed air, simultaneously offering a spray performance that is similar to LPG (butane)-propelled products.

Every year, across the world 1.4 million tonnes of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) such as CO2 are released into the atmosphere from the use of 17.5 billion aerosol products. That is equivalent to 1.8 billion cars.

The new product, developed with the Mentholatum Company (Healthcare and Pharma) took over 2.5 years of research and testing and the groundbreaking collaborative work carried out at the SRG has resulted in the launch of brand-new Deep Heat and Deep Freeze products using eco-friendly nitrogen propellant. Testing has confirmed over 1,500 tonnes of CO2 have been saved by moving to the Eco-Valve and using a nitrogen propellent from these two products alone.

Examples of other recent branded products that have also been launched globally are Native Deo (USA), ISANA, Coppertone, Nivea and many more in Europe and Africa.

Professor Ghasem Nasr led development of the product at Salford. He said: “I’m so proud of this product and everyone in the team who helped make it possible.

“This is a truly game changing achievement. The Eco-Valve is a highly versatile and environmentally friendly solution that can be used in over 85% of aerosol applications.

“It’s a massive success for the consumers and the environment!”

Peter Shaw, Managing Director, Salvalco said: “Working with the team at Mentholatum has been a real pleasure. A lot of work and research has gone in behind the scenes, so it’s fantastic to now see these products in the market and on the shelves in the UK.

“With rising requirements in global health and environmental regulation, as well as growing consumer demand for greener aerosol solutions, it’s great to see companies like Mentholatum taking action and making the necessary changes needed. As many of the companies we work with say, nitrogen is a highly effective and sustainable alternative to LPG and it’s great to increasingly see brands making the switch.”