Step by Step, over a Million Times:
Evoco and Bared Hit Green Milestone
[Toronto – April 22, 2024] – In celebration of Earth Day, Evoco and Bared Footwear are proud to mark a major milestone: the production of over one million footwear pairs featuring Evoco’s plant-based FATES™ Bio-Foam.
This achievement marks one of the few times a biomaterial innovation has been fully scaled across an entire footwear line, demonstrating that real, measurable decarbonization is possible at industrial scale.
Replacing petrochemical foams without compromising comfort
For decades, polyurethane (PU) foam, derived from fossil fuels, has been the standard material for comfort in footwear. It’s lightweight, durable, and flexible.
But conventional PU has major environmental costs: it’s carbon-intensive, non-renewable and can take over 1,000 years to degrade. Even recycled options don’t truly address the end-of-life challenge; they simply delay the landfill problem.
Bared Footwear set a bold goal: eliminate petroleum-based footbeds without sacrificing comfort, performance, or style. To achieve it, they needed a new class of material, one that could deliver on sustainability without compromising what their customers loved most.
From collaboration to full-scale impact
Enter Evoco’s FATES™ Bio-Foam: a high-performance, plant-based material platform designed to replace fossil-derived foams at scale.
Working closely with Bared’s product development team, Evoco custom-engineered solutions that could meet strict biomechanical standards, aesthetics, and durability needs.
Together, we co-developed a custom formulation to meet the diverse needs of Bared’s footwear lines, resulting in the creation of their signature B.plantfoam™ footbed.
Today, Bared has completely replaced conventional PU across its full product line, boots, sneakers, dress shoes, and sandals, using Evoco’s Bio-foams in both insole and midsole applications.
Unlike most material innovations, which often remain limited to niche capsule collections or pilot runs, this milestone represents a full-scale integration across millions of products.
~714,000 pairs were made with FATES™ Bio-Foam Classic (76% plant-based)
~285,000 pairs were made with FATES™ Bio-Foam Essential (72% plant-based*)
(Based on GreenCircle’s biocarbon certification.)*
Reaching that kind of scale was made possible through close collaboration between Bared’s passionate team in Australia, Evoco’s product development experts in Canada, and our dedicated sales team in the UK, spanning time zones, disciplines, and a shared commitment to better materials.
“We’ve had a strong partnership that’s developed year after year, as both our companies tremendously care about the quality of our product” says Evoco’s Co-Founder , COO and Head of Sustainability, Natalie Ashdown.
A benchmark for impact-driven innovation in footwear materials
Evoco doesn’t just deliver high-performance plant-based materials, they support their partners in measuring and maximizing their impact.
To ensure credibility and transparency, Evoco conducts third-party verified Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of its Bio-Foams, reviewed according to ISO 14044:2006 standards.
These cradle-to-gate LCAs quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction achieved by switching from conventional polyurethane foams to their plant-based FATES™ Bio-Foam.
The results are compelling: FATES Bio-Foams deliver up to 70% lower life cycle GHG emissions compared to traditional PU foam, setting a new benchmark for decarbonization in footwear materials.
The switch to FATES Bio-Foam initiated by Bared in 2023 was a substantial driver of decarbonization of their supply chain, resulting in over 600 tons of CO₂e emissions avoided.
By switching to FATES BIO-foam, over 600 Tons of CO2e GHG emissions were avoided
Evoco’s Bio-Foams produced for Bared are third-party verified for their bio-based content by USDA and GreenCircle. Additionally, the material is vegan verified by Eurofins, ensuring that no animal products are used or sourced in the footbed materials.
Advancing circularity beyond carbon reductions
End-of-life considerations are a key focus for Bared as they continue to push the boundaries of sustainable footwear. While the adoption of FATES™ Bio-Foam has already driven significant reductions in carbon emissions, both Bared and Evoco recognize that true sustainability also means addressing what happens after a product’s useful life.
Evoco’s Bio-Foam demonstrates promising progress, achieving 65% biodegradation within 120 days under composting conditions.⁴
This partnership reflects a commitment to progress over perfection, working together to drive measurable improvements today while continuing to innovate for greater impact tomorrow.
As Georgie Chipp, Head of Product at Bared, explains:
“Our goal is to achieve a footbed that causes no harm at end of life. We know there are limitations to achieve this goal right now, but we will continue to invest in research and in partners like Evoco to help us overcome these challenges.”
Together, Bared and Evoco are already working toward the next milestones, from advancing the performance and durability of bio-based materials to achieving even greater end-of-life circularity.
¹ FATES Classic Bio-Foam GreenCircle certification number: 22-0040
² Fates Essential Bio-Foam GreenCircle certification number: 22-0965
³ Elnaz Zarezadeh, Mahbubeh Tangestani, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, A systematic review of methodologies and solutions for recycling polyurethane foams to safeguard the environment, Heliyon, Volume 10, Issue 23, 2024, e40724, ISSN 2405-8440, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40724.
⁴ According to ASTM D5338.
⁵ Eurofins Vegan Verification is explained further here.
Public Relations Contacts:
Gérald Alvoët
VP of Marketing
galvoet@evocoltd.com
About Evoco
Evoco is a global innovation company founded to defossilize the material value chain. We are developing a plant-based technology platform of scalable chemistry and material technologies to help our industry partners detoxify and decarbonize high-performance consumer and industrial products.
Evoco’s innovation platform can be used to produce high-performance Bio-Foams, Bio-Leathers, and Bio-TPU technologies. We have scaled the technology today with a focus on continued growth in the footwear industry while expanding our global reach with operations in China, Vietnam, and Italy. With 14 patents granted, Evoco is expanding its market opportunities by introducing new materials and technologies into additional verticals and product line categories.
To learn more, please visit: evocoltd.com
About Bared
Bared was founded by Anna Baird in 2008. Bared Footwear currently operates seven flagship brick-and-mortar stores, with New Zealand and Broadbeach Waters being the latest additions. Each pair of their shoes has a cloud-like biomechanical footbed and hidden support elements that provide all-day foot support and cushioned comfort by preventing discomfort by reducing pressure in the ball of the foot and cushioning the heel with shock absorption support.
To learn more, please visit: baredfootwear.com
