BACKGROUND The disposal of sewage sludge has become an issue of particular concern due to its continuously increasing quantity. In this study, sewage sludge derived carbon (SC) was employed as support for iron-oxide-containing catalyst (FeSC). The catalysts were characterized in terms of inorganic elemental composition, XRD, SEM and TGA-FTIR. The catalytic activity of the catalyst was evaluated from the discoloration and mineralization of acid orange II (AOII) in the presence of H2O2 and visible light. RESULTS The FeSC catalyst pyrolyzed at 800(o)C for 2 h displayed the highest catalytic activity. Almost complete discoloration and 67% mineralization of 100 mg L-1 AOII were achieved after 30 min adsorption and 60 min oxidation under visible light irradiation, using 1.5 g L-1 catalyst, 15.0 mmol L-1 H2O2 and initial pH 4.0. The prepared FeSC also exhibited very limited iron leaching (0.56 mg L-1 after 90 min reaction) and high stability since the activity remained constant over ten consecutive runs. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated the high activity and stability of the sewage sludge-derived carbon-supported iron oxide catalyst in photo-Fenton-like reaction. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry