An adsorption and filtration process for the recovery of proteins and other biological compounds from aqueous streams has been developed, using cellulose-based fibrous materials. Of the many cellulose derivatives studied, cellulose acetate fibrets (CAF) and cellulose triacetate fibrets (CTF) have been shown to be the most effective. In the presence of salts, they lead to protein adsorption by hydrophobic interactions. Model proteins, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), have been recovered by incubating these solutions with CTF in the presence of ammonium sulfate, followed by filtration through a 20 mu m pore size filter. The amount of salt necessary varies with the protein type, but decreases with increasing temperature and protein concentration. High protein recovery has been obtained from an actual wastewater system at low salt dosages.