Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are very promising materials which might
serve as environmentally-friendly alternative to petrochemical plastics. The main
obstacle preventing PHAs from entering the market massively is the final cost of the
polymeric material, important portion of which is attributed to carbon substrate. Hence,
the researchers have been intensively looking for cheap substrates enabling sustainable
production of PHAs. Hence, this chapter summarizes the advances in biotechnological
production of PHAs from various waste products originating from industries of
different fields, especially from food industry and agriculture.
Keywords: Agricultural waste, Biodiesel industry, Biotechnological production,
Carbon-rich waste, Cheese whey, Glycerol, Inexpensive substrates,
Lignocelluloses, Lipid substrates, Molasses, Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), Sugar
industry, Upstream processing.