A heterogeneous catalyst obtained from copper adsorption by an ionic exchange resin, followed by carbonization, is presented as a promising option for phenol abatement in industrial wastewater. The catalyst was characterized before and after the catalytic tests by SEM-EDS. The performance of the catalyst in industrial wastewater, with 60 mg L-1 phenol, was compared with a model stream (1000 mg L-1 phenol). Successive reactions were also carried out in order to study the catalyst deactivation. The reaction was performed at 38 degrees C, 1 atm, pH 6.5, using a phenol to hydrogen peroxide molar ratio of 14. The catalyst was able to remove all phenol compounds present in both streams. The catalyst did not show any deactivation in the industrial stream, but deactivated in the model stream, a fact that can be assigned to the copper leaching, as inferred by SEM-EDS. In the model stream, the high phenol concentration caused a high production of organic acids, generated by parallel reactions, which led to copper leaching. The industrial stream did not show deactivation since the amount of these acids was too low to leach copper. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.