| Abstract: | Plastics have become an integral part of our contemporary life because of many desirable properties including durability and resistance to degradation. However, these non-degradable, petrochemicals-derived plastics accumulate in the environment at a rate of 25 million tons per year. Recently there is an interest in the development of a class of microbially produced bioplastics, e.g., polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) which retain the desired physical and chemical properties of conventional synthetic plastics. Broader usage of biodegradable plastics in packaging and disposable products as a solution to the environmental problem would heavily depend on further reduction of costs and the discovery of novel biodegradable plastics with improved properties. In this paper, the microbial production of PHAs by activated sludge utilizing food industrial wastes is reported. The melting points of the products as well as the co-polymer composition of the products investigated by GC and NMR were compared. By use of activated sludge to convert the carbon source into PHAs not only environment-friendly bioplastics are produce, but also part of the problem of the disposal of municipal activated sludge is solved. The selection of food industrial waste as carbon resource can also further reduce the cost of production of PHAs. |
