Biodegradable tea leaf straw and method for making the same

A method for manufacturing a biodegradable tea leaf straw, comprising the steps of:

• roasting and sterilizing tea leaves, and grinding the tea leaves to form tea leaf powder;
• mechanically mixing the tea leaf powder with inorganic filler powder to form a tea leaf mixture, a particle size of the tea leaf powder being smaller than a particle size of the inorganic filler powder, the tea leaf mixture including 1% to 50% of the tea leaf powder and 50% to 99% of the inorganic filler powder, the inorganic filler powder including at least one of calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, kaolin, stearic acid, zinc stearate, zinc oxide, antimony trioxide, silicon dioxide, talcum powder, mica powder, barium sulfate, calcium silicate, or quartz powder;
• mixing the tea leaf mixture with a biodegradable material at a temperature between 140° C. to 170° C. to form a composite, the composite including 35% to 65% of the tea leaf mixture and 35% to 65% of the biodegradable material, the biodegradable material including at least one of polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene succinate adipate (PBSA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), starch-based plastics, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), or polycaprolactone (PCL), and
• extruding the composite into a tubular form to create a straw.