Purpose Wastes from plants and animals have a lot of potential and usefulness in technological development and most researchers have documented their findings on plant-based materials while animal-based materials have received less attention. Hence, this study aims to provide adequate information on existing animal-based bio-reinforcement classifications, their manufacturing and characterization processes, as well and their composites. This becomes necessary since a good understanding of these itemized areas of animal-based bio-reinforcements will advance the production and availability of animal waste materials thereby boosting the innovative creation of green materials from such wastes. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative and quantitative methodical approach to find and analyze pertinent publications from databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria of the study were specifically designed to consider studies that investigate the use of animal-based materials in the creation of environmentally friendly composites. The time frame for the articles included in the study ranged from 1990 to 2023. After a thorough evaluation of titles, abstracts and full-text papers, the authors collected relevant information on various types of animal-based bio-reinforcements, processes used for composite production, mechanical properties, environmental impact assessments and applications. Findings This review revealed the verse potentials and areas of applications for animal-based bio-reinforcement materials that are yet to be properly harnessed and the need for researchers to focus more on animal wastes. Animal wastes have been discovered to be a source of sustainable materials due to the increasing demand and production of animals for human consumption. Animal wastes are resources that cannot go into extinction due to the ease of animal production. Hence, these readily available and cheap resources are to be used to meet the growing human demands and as well as mitigate environmental problems associated with established synthetic materials. Another benefit of animal-based bio-reinforcement materials, as revealed in this review, is that they are biodegradable materials that will not pose any danger to the environment during and after use, which makes them the best materials for biomedical applications. Therefore, animal-based reinforcements can be recommended as the most suitable source of materials for human consumption due to their high similarity with human body constituents. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this research was due to inadequate literature on its applications; hence, this review seeks to advance the potential and open a new vista for this application. Originality/value This manuscript, titled “Animal Based Bio-reinforcements for Sustainable Green Composites Advancement,” provides a unique synthesis and analysis of current research, investigating the use of animal-based bio-reinforcements in the creation of environmentally friendly composites. Through the critical analysis of existing data, and also provides a thorough and inclusive summary that emphasizes emerging patterns, identifies areas where information is lacking, and suggests prospective directions for further investigation and advancement in this rapidly developing area of study. This work not only gathers dispersed information but also provides new perspectives, therefore promoting comprehension and encouraging discussion in the field of sustainable materials science and engineering.
Oladele et al. (Sat,) studied this question.