Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is an intracellular storage material produced by various bacteria. Because the physical characteristics are similar to those of synthetic plastics, PHA can be used at an alternative of synthetic plastics, which are potential...
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is an intracellular storage material produced by various bacteria. Because the physical characteristics are similar to those of synthetic plastics, PHA can be used at an alternative of synthetic plastics, which are potential environmental pollutants. On this study, the degradability of PHA was evaluated through the estimation of the weight lost of PHA films in, activated sludge. Approximately 9A% of PHA was degraded for 40-days of incubation. The pattern of degradation showed sigmoid' consisting with lag, exponential, and stationary phases. Sated on the weight loss in exponential phase, the degradation, rate was 3.36%/day indicating that PHA film with 0.1 mm of thickness can be degraded in 30 days in activated sludge.