PRODUCTION OF BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC FROM VEGETABLE OIL WASTE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To treat organic components in a vegetable oil waste without generating methane gas during a disposal process for the vegetable oil waste and at the same time produce a useful component from the vegetable oil waste by using a hydrogen bacterium. SOLUTION: The organic components in a vegetable oil waste are converted into organic acids in a short time by subjecting the vegetable oil waste to an anaerobic treatment and stopping the reaction at the acid fermentation step without allowing the reaction to proceed to methane fermentation, subsequently sludge is separated and removed from the anaerobically treated liquid by a solid-liquid separation means such as centrifugation, and the organic acid- containing liquid prepared by the removal of the solid components is concentrated by using an ion-exchanging resin or by heating to obtain a concentrated organic acid liquid. Polyhydroxyalkanoate(PHA), which is a biodegradable resin, is produced from the concentrated organic acid liquid by a hydrogen bacteria.