Much effort has been made to use biochar to catalyze organic solid waste conversion into value-added products. Biochar has a high specific surface area and abundant functional groups, making it a promising catalyst, but biochar is not used in industrial-scale applications. Presented here is a systematic literature review and biblio-metric analysis of biochar-catalyzed solid waste research between 2000 and 2023 focused on the mechanisms involved in and factors affecting biochar catalytic performance during biomass and organic polymer conversion. In situ catalysis allows flexible and simple processes giving specific products but gives relatively poor conversion efficiencies. Catalytic conversion of organic solid waste by biochar has been a focus of research since 2006. A discussion of biochar catalysis applications, computational approaches, and sustainability is presented. The review indicates recent progress using biochars as catalysts for converting waste into valuable products and provides valuable insights that will advance environmental and waste management practices.
