In this work, tamarind fruit seed derived granular activated carbon (TSAC) was prepared by microwave heating for the adsorptive treatment of semi-aerobic landfill leachate. TSAC was examined by pore structural analysis and determination of surface acidity/basicity. The effects of adsorbent dosage, contact time, and solution pH on the adsorptive removal of color and non-biodegradable constituents, expressed in term of chemical oxygen demand (COD) were quantified. The experimental results manifested that the adsorptive removal of color and COD increased with increasing the adsorbent dosage and contact time, with the adsorptive removal of color and COD of 91.23% and 79.93%, respectively, at the adsorbent dosage of 6 mg/200 mL and pH 6. The adsorption kinetic was satisfactory fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Equilibrium data were favorably described by the Langmuir isotherm model, showing a monolayer adsorption capacity for color and COD of 168.57 Pt-Co/g and 64.93 mg/g at 30 degrees C, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.