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[Display omitted] • Orange peel was utilized for synthesis of TM doped ZnO nanoparticles. • TM doping affected the charge separation of carriers. • Ni doped ZnO nanoparticles exhibited the maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency. • The synthesized catalysts are highly stable and can be reused for 5 cycles. The present work investigates the degradation of Amoxicillin using ZnO and Fe, Ni, Co doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using orange peel extract. The synthesized catalysts were characterised with the help of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV–Visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy for structural and optical properties and the study of charge transport behaviour of the catalysts. The observed results indicate that the Ni doped ZnO nanoparticles exhibit superior degradation efficiencies of 80.71% and 86.21% under UV light and UV + visible light irradiation. Moreover, the slightly basic environment was found to be favourable for optimizing the degradation efficiency of the catalyst, as confirmed by the pH variation experiment. The scavenging experiments were utilized to reveal the most prominent role of hydroxyl radicals in the degradation of Amoxicillin. Additionally, a mere 10.97% reduction in degradation efficiency was observed after fours cycles of degradation experiment. The plausible pathway of amoxicillin degradation has been included into this study as well. Hence, the transition metal (TM) doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized through waste orange peels suggest their utilization as efficient photo catalyst in Amoxicillin degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]