Live · worldwide
The thermocol tracker: the world’s EPS, counted live. Mycelium is closing the gap.
The world makes about 11 million tonnes of expanded polystyrene (EPS, or thermocol) a year. That’s about 349 kg every second. Watch it add up in red, and see in green how mycelium grown from farm waste is replacing it, one box at a time.
Thermocol (EPS) made worldwide since you opened this page
Ticking at about 349 kg a second, every second, all year round.
Made worldwide so far this year
Rate: 11,000,000 t a year (global EPS production and consumption, 2024: IndexBox, Nov 2025). India: 914,000 t a year (same source). *If thermocol waste is handled like the world’s plastic waste on average: 50% landfilled, 22% mismanaged, 9% recycled (OECD Global Plastics Outlook, 2022). This share is illustrative, not EPS-specific.
Dharaksha so far: farm waste kept out of fires and turned into packaging
7,000 tonnes of agricultural residue such as paddy straw, grown into mycelium packaging instead of being burnt in the fields (Packaging Gateway, Sep 2024).
What if more brands switched?
A what-if at your chosen share, applied to the 11 million tonne global figure. It shows what wide adoption could do. It is not a measured result.
The gap, and why it can close
The world makes as much thermocol as Dharaksha’s 7,000 tonnes of farm waste in about 5 hours 34 minutes. That isn’t a reason to stop. It’s the reason mycelium has to scale. Every brand that switches its ice boxes and inserts grows the green bar.
Why thermocol is hard to get rid of
Light, bulky, short-lived
Thermocol is mostly air, so it fills bins and trucks fast. Packaging is often thrown away within days of use.
Rarely recycled in practice
Worldwide, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled (OECD). Light, bulky foam that’s often dirty is among the hardest to collect.
It doesn’t go away
Thermocol breaks into small pieces instead of breaking down. Mycelium packaging biodegrades back to soil in about 60 days in normal soil conditions.
The mycelium alternative is ready now
Grown, not made from oil
Dharaksha grows packaging from paddy straw and other farm residue bound by mycelium, the root network of fungi. Each part grows in its mould in about four days.
Better cold hold
ParaChill™ mycelium ice boxes have a thermal conductivity of 0.032 W/m·K against 0.0365 for thermocol, and stay cold about 20% longer. Try the cold chain packaging calculator.
Drop-in for EPS
Custom-moulded inserts, cradles and cold chain boxes replace thermocol in electronics, glass, food, pharma and export packaging. See our products.
Sources and method
We only use published figures, and every derived number is shown with its working.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global EPS production and consumption | About 11 million tonnes in 2024 | IndexBox, World expansible polystyrene market (Nov 2025) |
| India EPS consumption | 914,000 tonnes in 2024 | IndexBox (as above) |
| Fate of plastic waste worldwide | 9% recycled, 19% incinerated, ~50% landfilled, 22% mismanaged (2019) | OECD Global Plastics Outlook (2022) |
| Farm waste turned into packaging by Dharaksha | 7,000 tonnes | Packaging Gateway (Sep 2024) |
| CO₂ released by burning paddy straw | 1,460 kg CO₂ per tonne burnt | Government of India, Crop Residue Management Guidelines 2023–24 |
| CO₂ avoided by Dharaksha (estimate) | 7,000 t × 1.46 = about 10,220 t CO₂, assuming the residue would otherwise have been burnt in the field like paddy straw | Derived |
| Thermocol replaced by Dharaksha | Not shown. No published figure for units shipped and their EPS-equivalent weight exists, so we don’t estimate a tonnage | – |
| Per-second rate | 11,000,000 t ÷ 31,536,000 s = 0.349 t (349 kg) a second | Derived |
| Year to date | 349 kg/s × seconds since 1 January (your time zone) | Derived, assumes the 2024 rate holds |
| The gap | 7,000 t ÷ 0.349 t/s = about 20,000 s, or 5 h 34 min | Derived |
Not all EPS becomes waste in the same year. Some is long-life building insulation. The landfill, mismanaged and recycled split uses the global average for all plastics, so treat it as illustrative. Figures update every second in your browser and are rounded.
Help close the gap. Switch one box at a time.
Swap thermocol ice boxes, inserts and corner blocks for mycelium grown from farm waste. India’s largest mycelium packaging manufacturer will help you test it on your own products, free.
Journalists, teachers and researchers: you’re welcome to link to or cite this tracker. Please credit “Dharaksha Ecosolutions thermocol tracker”.