Styrofoam is a product brand of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE: DD). It was invented at Dow Chemical in 1941 and moved to the new DuPont in the 2019 DowDuPont separation.

Is Styrofoam the same as foam cups?

No. Disposable cups, coolers, and packaging are expanded polystyrene (EPS), a different material. Styrofoam is blue or grey extruded polystyrene (XPS) board insulation made for construction, and the trademark has never applied to disposable foodware.

Is Styrofoam publicly traded?

The brand is not traded separately. Its parent, DuPont, trades on the NYSE under the ticker DD.

When was Styrofoam invented?

Ray McIntire discovered the material at Dow Chemical in 1941, and Dow patented and trademarked it in 1944, commercializing it through the late 1940s.

Is Styrofoam still made by Dow?

No. It transferred to DuPont in the 2019 separation of DowDuPont and is now part of DuPont Performance Building Solutions.

Conglomerates & Industrial

Who Owns Styrofoam?

Styrofoam is owned by DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE: DD), a publicly traded American materials company headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. Invented by Dow chemist Ray McIntire in 1941, Styrofoam brand extruded polystyrene foam is a rigid closed-cell insulation used in walls, roofs, and below-grade construction. The brand moved from Dow to DuPont in the 2019 DowDuPont separation and remains part of its building solutions portfolio.

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Parent Company

DuPont

Acquired

2019

Status

Publicly Traded

Headquarters

Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Styrofoam Timeline

1802

DuPont

Parent company established in Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Company Founded

1944

Styrofoam

Founded by Otis Ray McIntire (Dow Chemical)

Founded

2019

Acquired by DuPont

DuPont acquired Styrofoam

Acquired

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Who Owns Styrofoam?

Parent Company: DuPont
Ownership Type: Product line
Acquisition Year: 2019
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock Ticker: NYSE: DD

Brand	Parent Company	Ownership Type
Styrofoam	DuPont	Product line

History of Styrofoam

Founded: 1944
Founders: Otis Ray McIntire (Dow Chemical)
Acquired by DuPont: 2019

Ray McIntire, a Dow Chemical researcher, discovered the foam in 1941 while trying to develop a flexible electrical insulator. When he combined styrene liquid with isobutylene under pressure, the result was a frothy closed-cell foam that resisted moisture. Dow patented the material in 1944 and commercialized it soon after, initially for buoyancy applications including life rafts during the war years.

Postwar, the material found its calling in construction. Its closed-cell structure gave it high R-value per inch plus resistance to water absorption, making it suited to roof insulation, wall cavities, foundations, and below-grade uses where moisture kills other insulations. The trademark blue color made the boards instantly identifiable on job sites.

The brand rode energy-efficiency regulation for decades. As building codes tightened through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, XPS insulation demand grew, and Styrofoam became the specified default in commercial construction, especially inverted roof membrane assemblies.

Ownership changed at the corporate level twice in recent years. The 2017 Dow-DuPont merger placed it inside DowDuPont, and the 2019 three-way separation moved it to the new DuPont's Safety and Construction business. In 2021, DuPont began converting Styrofoam XPS to a low-GWP blowing-agent formulation, cutting the product's embodied carbon by more than 90 percent and shifting some product lines from the classic blue to a grey color. The brand also dropped the legacy HBCD flame retardant in favor of polymeric alternatives across its markets.

About DuPont

Who owns DuPont?
DuPont is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DD. The company is owned by its shareholders, including institutional investors, mutual funds, and individual investors. The company is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors led by Executive Chairman Edward D. Breen and CEO Lori Koch.

Is DuPont publicly traded?
Yes, DuPont is publicly traded on NYSE under the ticker symbol DD. The company reported FY2025 continuing operations net sales of $6.85 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.68. In Q2 2026, net sales were $1.82 billion with adjusted EPS of $1.88. A 1-for-3 reverse stock split became effective on June 24, 2026.

Who is the CEO of DuPont?
Lori Koch has served as CEO of DuPont since June 2024, succeeding Edward D. Breen, who transitioned to Executive Chairman. Koch has guided the company through its Electronics separation into Qnity Electronics (completed November 2025) and the sale of its Aramids business (completed April 2026).

When was DuPont founded?
DuPont was founded in 1802 by Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, a French-American chemist who established a gunpowder mill on the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware. The company has operated for over 220 years and is one of America's oldest continuously operating industrial companies.

What is DuPont's annual revenue?
DuPont reported FY2025 continuing operations net sales of $6.85 billion, up 2% from $6.72 billion in FY2024. Operating EBITDA was $1.63 billion with a 23.8% margin. For FY2026, the company guides to net sales of $7.16 to $7.19 billion and adjusted EPS of $7.17 to $7.32. In Q2 2026, net sales were $1.82 billion, up 4% year-over-year.

What brands does DuPont own?
DuPont's brand portfolio includes Tyvek (protective materials and building wraps), FilmTec (water treatment membranes), AmberLite (ion exchange resins), BETAMATE (structural adhesives), BETATECH (thermal interface materials), Pyralux (flexible circuit materials), Kalrez (perfluoroelastomer seals), and Vamac (elastomers). The company sold its Aramids brands including Kevlar and Nomex to Arclin in April 2026.

What happened to DuPont's Electronics business?
DuPont completed the separation of its Electronics business into Qnity Electronics, Inc. on November 1, 2025, through a tax-free distribution of Qnity common stock to DuPont shareholders of record as of October 22, 2025. Qnity now operates as an independent public company. DuPont initially planned to separate into three companies but decided in January 2025 to retain its Water business.

What controversies has DuPont faced?
DuPont has faced significant PFAS-related litigation, resulting in a settlement with the State of New Jersey totaling $875 million over 25 years (shared with Chemours and Corteva). The company also faces ongoing environmental compliance scrutiny related to historical chemical manufacturing. The Electronics separation and Aramids divestiture involved complex liability allocations, including certain PFAS liabilities assumed by Qnity Electronics.

Founded: 1802
Headquarters: Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock: NYSE: DD
Revenue: $6.85 billion (FY2025, continuing operations)
Employees: Approximately 18,000

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Where Is Styrofoam Made / Based?

Headquarters: Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Manufacturing / Operations: United States

Styrofoam Categories & Tags

Insulation Building Materials Xps Construction Foam

Styrofoam Sustainability & Ethics

The brand's environmental record is mixed and DuPont communicates it directly. Polystyrene insulation is derived from fossil feedstock and is not biodegradable, but DuPont's 2021 reformulation cut embodied carbon by roughly 94 percent for the low-GWP product line and removed the HBCD flame retardant that regulators had restricted.

The bigger reputational problem is misattribution. Littered EPS foam cups and food packaging are routinely blamed on Styrofoam, which is not used in those products. DuPont has published explanatory material distinguishing XPS board insulation from the disposable EPS items that draw most of the public criticism.

Styrofoam Recalls & Controversies

Styrofoam brand XPS historically used the brominated flame retardant HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane), which was listed for global elimination under the Stockholm Convention. DuPont and other XPS makers transitioned North American production to polymeric flame retardants in the 2020 to 2021 period, and current formulations no longer contain HBCD.

The brand also faces genericization pressure: the word is widely used for any plastic foam, which DuPont addresses through trademark enforcement and education. Neither issue involves an unresolved regulatory action against the current product.

Styrofoam Ownership: Pros & Cons

Advantages

+Category-defining brand recognition among contractors and specifiers
+DuPont building science and code-approval infrastructure
+Integration with Tyvek and Great Stuff into full envelope systems
+Low-GWP reformulation meets emerging climate regulations
+Moisture performance moat in roofing and below-grade uses

Considerations

-Fossil-derived, non-biodegradable material under sustainability scrutiny
-Brand name misapplied to unrelated EPS packaging controversies
-Competing insulations (polyiso, mineral wool) pressuring share
-Regional manufacturing ties sales to construction cycles

Frequently Asked Questions About Styrofoam

Sources & Further Reading

Competitors to Styrofoam

These competing brands operate in the same categories and provide similar products or services. Compare key attributes to understand market positioning and competitive landscape.

Brand	Parent Company	Country	Founded	Market Position	Primary Market	Gender Target
ACC Limited	Adani Group	India	1936	Mass market	Asia pacific	All Genders
Ambuja Cement	Adani Group	India	1983	Mass market	Asia pacific	All Genders
Builders FirstSource	Builders Firstsource	USA	1998	Mass market	United states	All Genders
Dalmia Cement	Dalmia Bharat Group	India	1939	Mass market	Regional	All Genders
Owens Corning	Owens Corning	USA	1938	Mass market	United states	All Genders
Ramco Cements	Ramco Cements	India	1961	Mass market	Regional	All Genders