A considerable economic and environmental need exists for the further development of degradable plastic polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), which are produced by bacteria. However, the production cost of this bioplastic, manufactured using conventional technologies, is several times higher than that of petrochemical-based plastics. This is a major obstacle for the industrial production of PHA bioplastic for non-medical use. The aim of this review is to evaluate suitable methods for the significant reduction in bioplastic production costs. The study findings are as follows: (1) The organic fraction of municipal solid waste can be used as a raw material through acidogenic fermentation; (2) non-aseptic cultivation using mixed bacterial culture can significantly reduce the production cost; (3) biotechnology of bacterial cultivation should ensure selection of PHA-accumulating strains; (4) applications of PHAcontaining material in both construction industry and agriculture do not require expensive extraction of PHAs from bacterial biomass. The implementation of the above findings in the current manufacturing process of PHAcontaining bioplastic would significantly reduce production costs, thereby rendering PHA-containing bioplastic an economically viable and environmentally friendly alternative to petrochemical-based plastics.Keywords Bioplastic Á Polyhydroxyalkanoates Á Municipal solid waste Á Construction material Biodegradable plastics Biodegradable plasticQuantity of plastics in municipal solid waste (MSW) in USA is 27 million tons (US EPA 2011). The major portion of these materials is incinerated or landfilled, which both are not-sustainable and environmentally not-friendly solutions. A considerable economic and environmental need exists for the further development of biodegradable plastics that will be transformed to carbon dioxide and water being landfilled or disposed in the environment. Additional advantage of biodegradable plastics is that many of them are produced biologically from renewable sources so the production of these bioplastics will increase environmental and economic sustainability. However, the production cost of the bioplastics, manufactured using conventional technologies, is several times higher than that of petrochemical-based plastics. Therefore, reduction in the bioplastic production cost due to the usage of cheap raw materials and technological innovations is essential for the bioplastic production and applications. Content of accumulated PHAs can be up to 80 % of dry biomass. These substances can be extracted from bacterial biomass and used in practice as a plastic with the melting temperature 160-180°C, tensile strength 24-40 MPa, and elongation at break 3-142 %. Lastly, elasticity of the PHA plastic depends on the content of PHV in PHAs. These properties are comparable with the properties of petroleum-based thermoplastics. The most common commercial PHAs consist of a copolymer PHB and PHV together with a plasticizer/softener and inorganic additives such as titanium dioxide and calciu...

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