Many individuals have acknowledged the benefits that you receive from a compost pile. However, there are several things that will not degrade. One of which is styrofoam. There are plastics that can be degraded. PHA, for example, is the polymer of hydroxyalkanoates that is accumulated as a carbon and energy storage material in various microorganisms. PHA has been developed using the bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus. A. eutrophus is used because of its ability to oxidize hydrogen gas for energy. It is a gram-negative, rod shaped bacterium. It thrives in the presence of toxic heavy metals. Two large megaplasmids carrying gene clusters that encode cation-efflux machinery spanning both bacterial membranes confer this heavy metal resistance.