Apart from the reduction of energy demand of a WWTP by applying nitritation/denitritation, the potential of recovering biopolymers from wastewater presents particular interest, when the latter is integrated within the normal operation of the plant.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers, well known for their application in bioplastics and are produced biologically (Reddy et al., 2003).
PHAs have thermoplastic and elastomeric properties, while the use of renewable resources for
their production has gained attention in recent years (Dias et al., 2006; Gumel et al., 2012).