Electrochemical treatment of real acidic effluent of copper phthalocyanine dye manufacturing plant with a view to explore the feasibility of the simultaneous removal of copper and phthalocyanine using a bipolar disc electrochemical reactor has been investigated. Experiments were conducted in a bipolar capillary gap disc stack electrochemical reactor under batch recirculation mode. Electrodes were RuO2 and IrO2 coated on titanium as anode and titanium as cathode. Effects of current density, electrolysis time and effluent flow rate on copper recovery and simultaneous COD removal and energy consumption were critically examined. The current density of 2.5 A dm(-2) and flow rate of 20 L h(-1) achieved 91.1% COD removal and 90.1% copper recovery with the energy consumption of 50.86 kWh kg(-1) for COD removal and simultaneous recovery of copper in a bipolar disc stack reactor. (C) 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.