Bioconversion Process of Polyethylene from Waste Tetra Pak Packaging to Polyhydroxyalkanoates.

Presented herein are the results of a novel recycling method for waste Tetra Pak packaging materials. The polyethylene (PE-T) component of this packaging material, obtained via a separation process using a "solvents method", was used as a carbon source for the biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) by the bacterial strain H16. Bacteria were grown for 48-72 h, at 30 °C, in TSB (nitrogen-rich) or BSM (nitrogen-limited) media supplemented with PE-T.