Abstract
This study investigated the use of tea waste to decolorize refractory dyestuff from textile wastewater. The influence of the
solution pH and the contacting time were examined for various adsorbents, namely green tea-leaf powder (GTP), black tea-leaf
powder (BTP), and powdered activated carbon (PAC). Results from batch experiments revealed that the reduction in true color
(ADMI) increases with decreasing pH. The ADMI reduced from 1106 to 150 with 0.8 g/L of GTP at pH 2. The results also
showed following ADMI removal efficiency order: GTP > PAC >> BTP. The active functional groups of the tea wastes involved
in the adsorptive decoloration of tea waste were the hydroxyl, amine, carboxyl stretching, and C–O groups. The work carried out
has revealed that green tea waste has a high potential to be used as an economically viable adsorbent to remove true color from
textile effluents.