The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) had been successfully synthesized by using an aqueous extract of waste tea as a stabilizing and reducing agent. The green synthesized AgNPs were characterized by ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and zeta potential. The work focused on the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and ethyl violet (EV) in aqueous solution with AgNPs as catalyst in the absence and presence of H2O2. The AgNPs exhibit fast, efficient and stable catalytic activity in the degradation of cationic organic dyes, but it is no catalytic degradation of anionic organic dyes at room temperature. The kinetics of dyes degradation with AgNPs follows the pseudo-second-order model. Meanwhile, the AgNPs also show better antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria. The formed highly catalytic active AgNPs can be used as catalyst in industries and water purification. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.