The bezafibrate (BZF) degradation and mineralization performances of a red mud (RM) catalyst doped with cobalt (i.e. Co/RM) during the ozonation reaction have been evaluated experimentally. The purposes of this study were to study the performance reaction mechanism and intermediate. In a next stage of our study also economic evaluations for a large scale application will be considered. Results of this study showed that catalytic zonation using Co/RM not only led to the successful degradation of BZF, but also mineralized the corresponding intermediates, in ultrapure water as well as the effluent of wastewater. Detoxification was also achieved in this reaction process. The surface and structure properties of Co/RM were characterized by several analytical methods. The leaching of toxic heavy metal from the catalyst used in this process was very low, with the heterogeneous reaction dominating the decomposition of BZF, which made the reuse of the catalyst highly feasible. The enhanced generation of hydroxyl radical was critical to the success of the catalytic activity. Furthermore, 22 of the intermediates generated during this process were identified and several degradation pathways were proposed (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.