Plastic waste disposal is a huge ecotechnological problem and one of the approaches to solving this problem is the development of biodegradable plastics. This review summarizes data on their use, biodegradability, commercial reliability and production from renewable resources. Some commercially successful biodegradable plastics are based on chemical synthesis (i.e. polyglycolic acid, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, and polyvinyl alcohol). Others are products of microbial fermentations (i.e. polyesters and neutral polysaccharides) or are prepared from chemically modified natural products (e.g., starch, cellulose, chitin or soy protein).

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 142 20 Prague Czechia

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Utilization of vinasse for the production of polyhydroxybutyrate by Haloarcula marismortui

Physiological dendrogram of Claviceps spp. based on sucrose metabolism in submerged cultures and its comparison with phylogenetic tree

Kinetics of soluble glucan production by Claviceps viridis