The basic idea in this study is to look into the possibilities of reducing the heavy metal concentrations of fly ash by means of electrostatic precipitation. The utilisation of fly ash as fertiliser is hampered by its high concentrations of heavy metals, which are highly variable. Fly ash fractionation experiments were done using electrostatic precipitators at four power plants. Based on the results, the concentrations of heavy metal are at their lowest in the first collector chamber and highest in the last chamber. The concentration of cadmium in fly ash used as fertiliser can be reduced by as much as 70% by applying electrostatic precipitation fractionation. The removal of other heavy metals is not as efficient as that of cadmium. The results show that electrostatic precipitation is an adequate method in the fractionating of fly ash to be used as a fertiliser or soil amendment. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.