Rethinking Footwear: How Bio-Based PU is Cutting Carbon Footprints and Combating Global Warming
Most of us don’t often pause to think about what goes into our shoes. Yet the materials beneath our feet carry a hidden story- one of carbon emissions, fossil fuel dependency, and waste. Polyurethane (PU), the backbone of modern footwear, has long been valued for its durability, comfort, and versatility. But traditionally, PU is made from petroleum-based inputs — locking the footwear industry into fossil fuels and contributing to climate change. At Rymbal, we’ve been asking a different question: Our answer is BioSafe– a bio-based PU system designed to slash carbon footprints without compromising performance. It is already transforming how the footwear industry thinks about materials, emissions, and climate responsibility. Why Bio-Based PU Matters The world is at a turning point. The Paris Agreement calls for urgent action to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and industries across the board are expected to contribute. For footwear, a sector that produces billions of pairs annually, the raw materials chosen have a massive influence on overall emissions. The global fashion and footwear industry is under pressure to decarbonize. Brands are being asked tough questions: This is where bio-based PU comes in. Instead of being 100% fossil-based, BioSafe replaces 20–60% of the carbon content with renewable plant-derived inputs. Bio-based PU provides a direct, measurable answer. BioSafe reduces both fossil fuel dependency and overall carbon emissions. The impact is tangible: That means every pair of shoes made with BioSafe helps fight global warming. And these are not projections — they are ASTM D6866-certified numbers being used in real footwear production today. Cutting Carbon: Conventional PU vs. BioSafe PU Climate Factor Conventional PU Biosafe PU Carbon Source 100% fossil-based (petroleum) 20–60% renewable (plant oils, bio-based carbon) Overall Carbon Footprint Locks in fossil carbon → contributes to global warming Up to 70% lower footprint (ASTM D6866 certified) Global Warming Impact Adds new fossil CO₂ into the atmosphere, accelerating climate change Uses renewable carbon already in the cycle → mitigates global warming Performance Without Compromise One of the myths about sustainable materials is that they are not strong enough to serve the purpose. BioSafe proves the opposite. Our systems are engineered to meet or exceed the performance of conventional PU in every aspect critical to footwear manufacturing:✅ Tear strength✅ Abrasion resistance✅ Flex and hydrolysis resistance✅ Long-term durability From athleisure sneakers to safety boots, BioSafe works across single- and double-density applications — proving that eco-friendly can also mean high-performing. More Than Materials: A Net Zero Vision Rymbal’s sustainability commitment goes beyond product innovation. Our long-term goal is net zero emissions– and BioSafe is a cornerstone of that vision. We’re building it through three key strategies: This approach supports UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12 & 13). Because true sustainability isn’t about a single product- it’s about rethinking the entire system. A Footprint Worth Leaving We can’t erase the environmental cost of past choices. But every new material is an opportunity to walk lighter on the planet. This is what BioSafe stands for: not perfect solutions, but real, scalable steps toward a better future. At Rymbal, we’re partnering with footwear brands that want to lead with responsibility, without compromising on quality or performance. If you’re ready to rethink your materials and reduce your carbon footprint, let’s talk.
How Rymbal Minimises Landfill Waste
When we think about waste, we often picture overstuffed landfills and plastic bottles floating in rivers. But some of the most overlooked waste comes from the materials we don’t see — like polyurethane foam in your shoes, your car seats, or the soles of your slippers. Here’s the scale we’re dealing with: globally, millions of tons of polyurethane foam end up in landfills every year. This flexible, durable material that makes our mattresses comfortable and our car rides smoother takes decades to break down naturally. Most of it never gets recycled because traditional recycling methods can’t handle its complex chemical structure. At Rymbal, we’ve asked a simple question: What if this material didn’t have to end up in the ground? What if we could give it another life — or better yet, design it in a way that it never becomes waste in the first place? Here’s how we’re making that possible — not just in theory, but through the very products we build every day. 1. We Think Circular, Not Linear In most industries, the cycle is: make → use → throw. We’re flipping that into: make → use → return → reuse. This is called a circular economy, and it’s the heart of how we work. For example, our ReNeu systems allow us to break down used polyurethane into its raw form — and use that same material again to make new products. No landfill, no incineration, no waste. Even our BioSafe range supports this idea, with bio content ranging from 20% to 100%. That means these materials will have plant based carbon to lower the potential of global warming. 2. Our Factories Waste Less, Reuse More We’ve set up our manufacturing units in Bahadurgarh and Sahibabad with closed-loop processes. Here’s what that looks like in practice: every bit of leftover foam, offcut, or production scrap gets collected in designated bins, then fed back into our processing systems within 24 hours. Our current internal recycling rate sits at 94% — meaning less than 6% of our production materials leave our facilities as waste. Compare that to the industry average of around 30-40% waste-to-landfill, and you can see the difference closed-loop thinking makes. Nothing is wasted until it absolutely has no use left — and even then, we’re working to find new ways to bring it back into the cycle. 3. We Design Products That Can Be Taken Apart and Recycled If a product is made as one big, fused chunk — you can’t really recycle it. That’s why we focus on modular design. Our footwear systems like FluidX and Rymapad are built with specific components in mind — midsoles, outsoles, insoles — each of which can be handled separately at end-of-life. Same goes for automotive products like RymaGrip (used in steering wheels, grab handles) or RymaFlex (used in seats and headrests). The easier it is to separate and sort, the easier it is to recycle — and we keep that in mind from day one. This design philosophy has allowed our partners to achieve up to 85% material recovery rates in pilot recycling programs. 4. We’re Building Take-Back & Reuse Programs We’re in active talks with brands and OEMs to roll out take-back programs — where worn-out footwear, factory rejects, or post-consumer waste can come back to us. Our ReNeu technology allows us to recover material from these products and put it back into new systems — reducing demand for virgin resources and keeping old products out of the landfill. In our pilot programs, we’ve already processed over 2,000 pairs of end-of-life footwear, recovering approximately 1.2 tons of usable polyurethane. This isn’t just better for the planet — it also helps our partners meet their sustainability goals and reduce their overall footprint. 5. We Start With Better Raw Materials If you’re baking a cake, the ingredients matter. Same goes for foam. That’s why we’re careful with what goes into our products. For ReNeu systems, we offer options with 16–17% recycled content — a figure that puts us ahead of most competitors who typically max out at 8-12% recycled content. Our BioSafe line cuts down petroleum use with plant-based materials sourced from agricultural waste streams, reducing our carbon footprint by an estimated 25% compared to traditional petroleum-based foam. Every system we design is tested for both performance and environmental impact through our in-house lifecycle assessment protocols. We don’t believe sustainability should come at the cost of quality. Our job is to ensure you get both — and our independent testing consistently shows our eco-friendly systems match or exceed the durability and performance of conventional alternatives. 6. We Share What We Know A lot of companies hide behind complex jargon when it comes to sustainability. We don’t. We provide full transparency on the recycled and biodegradable content in our systems. From our internal waste reports (published quarterly) to our PuTech 2025 flyers, everything is open, documented, and available for partners to review. We even share our methodology for calculating environmental impact, so you can verify our claims independently. If you want to know exactly what’s in your material, how it was made, and where it can go next — we’ll tell you. Simple as that. A Better Way to Build the Future We know we’re working with a material that’s traditionally been tough on the environment. Polyurethane’s durability — the very quality that makes it so useful — also makes it persistent in landfills. But that’s exactly why we’re pushing so hard to change the story. Less waste. More reuse. Smarter design. At Rymbal, we’re not trying to be perfect. We’re just trying to be better — every day, with every product, and with every decision we make. The numbers show it’s working: we’ve diverted over 15,000 tons of polyurethane from landfills in the past three years through our various programs. And if you’re someone who believes in building that kind of future — we’d love to work with you.