a wastewater treatment process elicits microorganisms to convert a waste stream / organic resource to intracellular biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate . the process includes waste stream / organic resource composition feed criteria , configuration coupled with operational parameters , and pha - laden biomass separation and stabilization . a waste stream / organic resource capable of producing enhanced levels of pha may be selected based on a combination of criteria , which may include short chain fatty acid concentration , protein concentration , polysaccharides concentration , and total suspended solids concentration . the waste stream is introduced into an aeration basin upon a specific configuration and operated under various parameter combinations for selecting / enriching microorganisms capable of producing pha . the pha - laden biomass is separated and stabilized for downstream pha related product beneficial uses . the present process achieves concurrent wastewater treatment and pha production , where pha level otherwise could not be obtained .