1,1,1-Trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) is a USEPA Priority Pollutant that has caused serious environmental contamination in the soil and groundwater. This study verified a chemical approach using an alkaline green tea (GT)/Fe2+ system at pH 10 to degrade reductively 1,1,1-TCA in an aqueous phase. Evaluation of the effect of GT dosage, Fe2+ concentrations, and reaction temperatures on the 1,1,1-TCA degradation through batch-scale experiments revealed that initiation of the degradation process is dependent on the GT/Fe2+ dosing ratio, with a minimum polyphenol concentration of 367 mg L-1 and a polyphenol-to-Fe mass ratio of 0.44. The reductive degradation of 1,1,1-TCA by the alkaline GT/Fe2+ system exhibited an initial rapid reaction stage, followed by a slower pseudo-first-order reaction kinetic stage. The highest initial degradation rate and fitted rate constant observed in this study were 0.106 mM h(-1) and 0.046 h(-1), respectively. The polyphenol-Fe complexes, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) Fe2+/Fe3+, were expected to trigger the reductive degradation of 1,1,1-TCA via interactions between GT and Fe. Ethane was generated as the major end product through the reductive dehalogenation route with 1,1dichloroethane and chloroethane as intermediate products. This study demonstrated the potential of the alkaline GT/Fe2+ system as a chemical reductive treatment of recalcitrant chlorinated solvents.