Less waste.
Better performance.
Blumaka turns the footwear industry's foam waste into insoles that outperform the material they're made from, using less water, less energy, and far less waste at every step of the process.
Footwear's foam problem
starts before the shoebox.
Virgin foam, the light, cushioned material inside most shoes, is used in 99.99% of the athletic footwear built today. Making and trimming it to shape is wasteful by design, and up to 50% of the foam produced for footwear ends up as scrap before a single shoe ever leaves the factory.
of athletic footwear built today uses virgin, non-recycled foam.
of the foam produced for footwear is scrapped during manufacturing.
insoles' worth of waste foam generated by footwear companies each year, or 2.5 billion midsoles.
of the athletic-footwear industry's annual demand for virgin insole foam could be met by using that waste instead.
Recycled foam,
engineered to outperform.
Instead of sending that scrap to a landfill or incinerator, Blumaka regrinds it and re-engineers it into new insole material, at up to 92% recycled content by volume, without giving up the cushioning and rebound athletes expect from virgin foam.
Scrap foam and offcuts are recovered from footwear manufacturing before they reach a landfill.
The waste is shredded and ground down into recycled material, ready to be reformed.
Ground material is pressed and molded into new insole shapes.
The result: an insole built from recycled foam instead of virgin material.
Up to 92% recycled content by volume. Across all Blumaka insoles the range is 85–92%.
Our recycled content is certified to the Global Recycled Standard, the independent chain-of-custody standard for verified recycled material.
Two ways Blumaka
measures its footprint.
Blumaka measures its footprint two ways: how the finished insole compares to a traditional EVA insole, and how its own production process compares to conventional foam manufacturing.
Compared to a traditional EVA insole
Used in production, compared to a traditional EVA insole.
Used as production input, compared to a traditional EVA insole.
In our own production process
reduction in carbon emissions compared to traditional foam manufacturing.
of water to produce a pair of insoles, and two tablespoons for a pair of midsoles.
and 10 minutes to clean production machines, versus an industry-typical 20,000 gallons, chemical anti-coagulants, and a full day of downtime.
Durability is
sustainability.
The most sustainable insole is the one that doesn't need replacing. Independent mechanical testing by Heeluxe, using the ASTM F1976 impact-testing standard, shows how much of Blumaka's cushioning survives real mileage, and how that holds up against other common midsole materials. Heeluxe defines cushioning failure as 15% degradation from new, which is the line to read every number below against.
Compared to 73.7% for a Super Critical Foam midsole in the same Heeluxe test, which had already broken down at 150 miles. Testing performed by Heeluxe, an independent footwear testing lab, not by Blumaka.
Worn by a 265-lb runner, per Heeluxe's Hulk Impact Test, October 2024.
of midsole cushioning retained at 675 miles, versus 73% for a premium EVA midsole, in Heeluxe impact testing.
of cushioning retained after 1,389 miles in Heeluxe testing, the basis for our 1,000-mile cushioning guarantee.
longer lifespan than a conventional insole, on average, meaning fewer insoles worn out and replaced.
We own the factory
that makes them.
Every Blumaka insole is produced in our own factory. Owning and operating it ourselves, rather than contracting production out, is what lets us hold the same standard for the people who make our insoles that we hold for the material they're made from.
above the legal minimum wage, for the lowest-paid role in the factory.
workers on the team, employed directly rather than through a labor agency.
unauthorized subcontracting. Every subcontractor is pre-approved and held to the same Code of Conduct.
Healthcare coverage, daily meals, transportation stipends, and primary endowment insurance for every worker.
In development: a route for worn insoles to come back to us, so the materials we make today can be used again tomorrow.
The insoles this material becomes.
Every Blumaka insole is built from the recycled foam described on this page. The independent testing behind how it performs is published in full separately.
