This study has been designed to produce activated carbon from acorns and olive seeds. The starting materials are low in cost and they are the cause of solid waste pollution problems in Jordan. A chemical procedure is used to produce the required activated carbon. The results indicate that activated carbon produced from acorns compares favorably with that from olive seeds which rank second, along side commercial type activated carbon which comes last with respect to adsorption capacity. However, the optimum activation temperature is 800 degreesC and the optimum regeneration temperature is also 800 degreesC. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.