Materials Overview:
Marduk Marine Material’s uses Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), which is a naturally occurring biopolymer produced by bacteria and is biodegradable by microbes typically found in the marine environment. Bacteria create PHA and use it to store energy in a similar way that humans store energy as fat.
Marduk chose PHA because in aquatic environments, bacteria recognize PHA as a food source and consume it which converts PHA to biomass, water, carbon dioxide, and naturally occurring monomers. PHA meets the American Society of Testing and Materials certification as well as European Standards for biodegradation in the marine environment. However, PHA also has physical characteristics similar to non-degradable plastics and can be formulated for extrusion into molded forms.