This study was carried out to prepare low-cost adsorbents from different types of waste ashes and post-consumer PET for use in industrial wastewater treatment. PET was melted and blended with ashes. The mixture was then carbonized to form different types of adsorbents. Heavy metal leaching from the adsorbents was greatly reduced compared to leaching from the bulk ashes. The BET surface area of the adsorbents ranged from 115 to 485 m(2)/g. The acidic sites on the adsorbents varied from 0.84 to 1.56 meq./g, higher than that of the PET carbon. The adsorption of methylene blue (MB) or heavy metals on the adsorbents was not in accordance with their surface areas because acidic sites reaction, affinity adsorption and cation exchange all contribute to the adsorption of the adsorbents. The isotherm for NIB adsorption on the adsorbents can be well described by the Langmuir or Freundlich equation but heavy metal adsorption cannot. It is believed that the adsorbents produced in this manner can be used in wastewater treatments for discoloration and heavy metal removal. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.