With rapid industrialization and increasing per-capita consumption of conventional plastics,
there is a growing need for the development of bio-based materials from renewable
resources to reduce the environmental footprint of plastic production. Oil palm biomass,
which is the largest biomass inMalaysia, has tremendous potential as a primary or secondary
feedstock for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production. PHA production can be made more
competitive and sustainable by using oil palm biomass effluent and residues that are available
at the factories. The oil palm biomass as non-food biomass from the mill is a great
strategy towards zero discharge in palm oil industry by combining wastewater treatment
system for mixed organic acids production together with PHA production from the clarified
organic acids. Hence, several oil palm biomass have been explored and considered as
sustainable promising sources for PHA production in future. Solid waste such as oil palm
frond and oil palm empty fruit bunch can be used as sugar based substrate. In addition, palm
oil mill effluent can be effectively converted to mixed organic acids and glycerol as wastes
from palm oil based biodiesel processing plant are suitable for PHA production. The
successful bioconversion and utilization of oil palm biomass can reduce the production costs
of PHAs and minimize greenhouse-gas emissions. This article provides an overview of
various types of biomass generated by the palm oil industry and describes their bioconversion
into PHAs by various PHA producers. Future perspectives and challenges for the
commercialization of PHAs produced using oil palm biomass are also discussed