An extensive review study on bioresources recovery from tea waste and its emerging applications

Abstract

Tea (Camellia Sinensis) is a popular and extensively consumable drink after water due to its excellent health benefits and medicinal properties. Global tea production is rapidly increasing to keep up with demand, but this also creates massive waste piles of tea that negatively influence the environment. By 2025, tea consumption is expected to have increased from approximately 6.3 million tons in 2020 to 7.4 million tons. Increasing the intake rate of tea has also been accompanied by a spike in the production of tea waste after usage. The present review study investigates the emerging application of tea waste management. Also, it addresses the sustainable recycling of waste from the tea industry, the beneficial application of biomass in agriculture composting, and other applications. Additionally, a thorough assessment of the manufacture of various value-added products from the generated tea waste. A detailed explanation of the challenges and new prospects of using tea waste in multiple industries, such as energy production and environmental remediation. The outcomes of this review research are essential for the world’s sustainable and environmentally friendly growth. This review will address resource management within the framework of zero-waste principles and a regenerative economy. Also, this study will help academics acquire extensive knowledge about the many sustainable uses of waste from tea production as an economical and environmentally favourable alternative to biomass.

Keywords

• Tea waste
• Value addition
• Byproduct
• Conversion
• Waste management
• Bioproduct