Adsorption of copper and zinc in lignimerin (an organic material mainly composed by lignin, carbohydrate fragments and some extractives) and its acid derivative (H-lignimerin), recovered from Kraft cellulose mill wastewater was examined. A Box-Behnken experiment design, used to optimize lignimerin recovery process, revealed that the type of solvent used for precipitation is a determining factor in the amount of substance obtained. Conversely, batch adsorption studies at pH 4.0 revealed that the maximum adsorption capacities, modeled by the Langmuir equation, were 666.7 and 370.4 mmol kg(-1) for Cu(II) and Zn(II), respectively in lignimerin and 232.6 and 312.5 mmol kg(-1) for Cu(II) and Zn(II), respectively in H-lignimerin. The adsorption of Cu(II) and Zn(II) through deprotonated hydroxyl and carboxylic groups was the dominant mechanism that may explain the adsorption in both materials. The adsorption capacities indicated that lignimerin, with a molecular mass between 50 and 70 kDa, has a potential use as an organic sorbent for removing copper and zinc from liquid resources. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.