Repurposing invasive plants: A sustainable solution for environmental restoration

Invasive plants are one of the significant threats that degrade the natural habitats. The conventional eradication strategies are expensive, inefficient, and destructive to the environment. The review considers sustainable valorization approaches in changing the high-biomass invasive species, such as Lantana camara, Eichhornia crassipes , Prosopis juliflora, etc., into valuable products like biofuels, bioplastics, biomaterials, and pharmaceuticals. These fast-growing plants offer renewable feedstocks that can reduce the use of fossil fuels and bring economic value through rural biorefineries and capture carbon. Through harvesting this biomass, the restructuring of the degraded landscapes is possible by restoring native plants and trees. However, issues related to scalability must be addressed before widespread implementation. These include the quality of biomass, processing cost, and collection and distribution methods, as well as long-term ecological effects, such as nutrient loss. In future studies, priority must be given to conversion technologies, economic and life-cycle analysis. Additionally, government policy measures, such as subsidies for the effective utilization of biomass and campaigns to create awareness among the public on the feasibility. The valorization of invasive plant biomass can lead to environmental and financial gains, while we achieve sustainability by transforming ecological threats into resources. • Invasive plants can be transformed from ecological burdens into bioeconomic resources. • High biomass productivity enables applications in bioenergy and bioplastics. • Potential use in bioremediation, green composites, and bioactive products. • Industrial scalability and economic validation remain major challenges. • Species-specific valorization and supportive policy frameworks are essential.