NOVELTY - Recovering polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from a mixed culture biomass, comprises preparing a granulated PHA-rich biomass, mixing the granulated PHA-rich biomass and a PHA-poor solvent, extracting the PHA from the PHA-rich biomass to produce a PHA-rich solvent by dissolving the PHA in a PHA-poor solvent, maintaining the temperature of the PHA-poor solvent, separating the PHA-rich solvent from the residual biomass, transferring the PHA-rich solvent to a location of gelation, promoting PHA-rich solvent gelation in a predetermined location in the process by cooling the PHA-rich solvent.    USE - The method is useful for recovering PHA from a mixed culture biomass in biological wastewater or process water treatment process (all claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The method is capable of rapidly recovering the PHA from a mixed culture biomass with good thermal stability, mechanical properties, extraction efficiency and quality and improved extraction yield in an economical manner.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Recovering polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from a mixed culture biomass, comprises: (a) preparing a granulated PHA-rich biomass; (b) mixing the granulated PHA-rich biomass and a PHA-poor solvent; (c) extracting the PHA from the PHA-rich biomass to produce a PHA-rich solvent by dissolving the PHA in a PHA-poor solvent at temperatures above a limiting extraction temperature (TL15); (d) during extraction, maintaining the temperature of the PHA-poor solvent on average between TL15 and Tu15 for more than 15 minutes, preferably less than 2 hours, (e) after extracting PHA from the PHA-rich biomass, separating the PHA-rich solvent from the residual biomass while maintaining the temperature above a gelation temperature, (f) transferring the PHA-rich solvent to a location of gelation while maintaining the temperature and/or shear stresses of the PHA-rich solvent sufficient to prevent gelation, (g) promoting PHA-rich solvent gelation in a predetermined location in the process by cooling the PHA-rich solvent to a temperature at or below the gelation temperature with or without mixing; and (h) pressing the solvent away from the PHA-rich solvent gel. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a method for recovering PHA from PHA-containing biomass, comprising: directing the biomass into a reactor; mixing the solvent with the biomass in the reactor; heating the solvent and the biomass in the reactor; extracting the PHA from the PHA-containing biomass by dissolving the PHA in the solvent to form a PHA-rich solvent; transferring the PHA-rich solvent from the reactor to a PHA separator, where the PHA is separated from the PHA-rich solvent; transferring the PHA-rich solvent to the PHA separator; maintaining the PHA-rich solvent at a temperature that prevents the PHA-rich solvent from assuming a gelation state; cooling the PHA-rich solvent to form a PHA-rich solvent gel; and mechanically pressing the PHA-rich solvent gel at the PHA separator location and causing the solvent to be removed from the PHA-rich solvent gel.