Upcycling waste foam
The US footwear market is huge. It also creates a huge amount of waste, with an estimated 300 million pairs of shoes thrown into landfills annually. In China and South East Asia, where most of the shoes are made, millions of tons of leftover scrap materials are thrown away by factories that produce these shoes.
For the sake of the environment, something clearly needs to change and Blumaka, founded in 2019, a US fabricator of foam products, is making a start. An ecologically minded company, it takes leftover foam scraps from footwear factories and upcycles them into high performance products. The company’s goal is to manufacture performance midsoles and insoles and, in the process, help clean up the planet. Currently, the company sells athletic and comfort insoles on its website, while also partnering with brands and businesses in the manufacture of their own footwear midsoles, insoles and other foam-based products.
Konnect insole
One of the company’s most innovative products is the Konnect insole, which uses polyurethane (PU) and a high-performance expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam made from recycled materials. This has a patent-pending, grip technology that provides a more secure connection to the ground by preventing the foot from slipping inside the shoe. The company says the Konnect insole has been proven to enhance athletic performance from baseball to golf, by providing this secure connection.
Company founder Stuart Jenkins adds, “Our Konnect insoles are built for any sport application where athletes need to keep their feet connected to their shoes. For example, when hiking or trail running, your toes won't jam to the end of your shoes when you're going downhill. In sports like baseball or tennis, you can plant or pivot your feet without slipping in your shoes. If you skateboard, you will have more connection to your shoes, giving you better board feel when landing tricks. In golf, your feet stay grounded in your cleats, allowing you to drive more power into your swing.”
Upcycling and manufacturing
Blumaka claims to offer the highest volume of recycled foam in the industry that it knows of as its insoles contain up to 85% recycled material by volume. In addition, it says its manufacturing process is significantly cleaner than traditional footwear. “Our Independent Life Cycle Assessment shows that our manufacturing process creates a 65% reduction in greenhouse gasses compared to traditional PU and a 26% reduction compared to traditional EVA.” It also says its process has four times less environmental impact than the traditional one. “We create comfort and improve performance while decreasing waste,” Jenkins says. Along with his co-founders, Joe Skaja and Chantal Herry they have over 120 years of experience in footwear innovation and manufacturing.
How has it managed to do this? Blumaka says that current manufacturing practices use solvents, steel moulds, silicone release agents, formamide (amide derived from formic acid) blowing agents, 400 degree heat and up to a gallon of water per pair to create midsoles and insoles. Blumaka’s process uses no formamide, no heat, no silicone mould releases, no steel moulds and uses only four grams of water per pair. It is therefore a much cleaner process. Furthermore, it says that its process occupies only 6,000 square feet.
Blumaka partners with brands to create insoles and midsoles with high volume recycled content. It currently has a facility in China and is building a further one in El Salvador in order to create local-to-local manufacturing opportunities. Eventually, it hopes to work with brands to build product lines focused on circularity, where there is an end-of-life plan for the shoes they produce.
Material content
The primary ingredient in Blumaka’s products is recycled granulated foam, which comprises up to 85% by volume of the final component and, as mentioned, is claimed to be the highest volume of recycled content in any midsole or insole in the industry at present. The recycled foam can be made from a variety of recycled materials including EVA, PU, biofoam, Bloom, ETPU, Poron, TPE-E, TPU, Styrofoam, silicone, neoprene or, indeed, any foam that can be chopped up. Stuart Jenkins says, “We are always looking for ways to turn waste into performance products. Currently, we are looking at upcycling old flip flops, old wetsuits, old sofas and couches.”
The company uses PU as its base material for every midsole or insole it produces. PU provides outstanding cushioning and is extremely durable, which adds to the lifetime effectiveness of the foam. A TPU micro skin is added to the outer surface of the component. This skin is elastic so that when the foam is in compression the skin is in tension. This acts both as a moderator to reduce deflection and as a support to help the foam recover.
The way forward
There is far too much waste in the world and although we are all increasingly aware of the problems it has created, they will not be solved overnight. Nevertheless, Blumaka is beginning to chip away at it and more companies are finding ways to reduce waste and consumption of resources. Some have simultaneously come up with new processes that offer additional technical advantages. Blumaka has done just that and created a new manufacturing process while also creating more sustainable products that come out of that process. Such innovation must be the way forward for the footwear industry as a whole.
Blumaka’s Comfort athletic insole is made using high-performance PU and ETPU foam to provide enhanced comfort to any shoe.
All credits: Blumaka
