The ability of peat, lignite and activated chars made from peat and lignite to adsorb dyes and metals from wastewater and NO2 from air was investigated. Equilibrium isotherms were determined to assess the maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbents for the pollutants. Kinetic studies for the adsorption of dyes and metal ions onto the adsorbents were undertaken in agitated batch adsorbers. Mass transport models were tested to predict the concentration decay curves in batch adsorbers. The models tested were single resistance models based on the assumption of a single external mass transfer coefficient and two resistance models which included an internal diffusion coefficient and an external mass transfer coefficient. The surface phenomena which influence the extent and the rate of uptake have been studied. The equilibrium capacity data conform to Langmuir plots. A previously proposed model was used to evaluate the external single resistance mass transfer model and was successfully applied to predict the adsorption of metal ions in single component systems under batch conditions. It has been shown that the assumption of negligible intraparticle diffusion is valid and that external him diffusion is the rate limiting step in describing the adsorption processes at high sorbent loadings. The same type of result is not observed for the adsorption of coloured organic matter onto peat where the sorption processes cannot be successfully modelled by use of a single resistance model and a two resistance model incorporating internal diffusion is required. The surface phenomena which influence the extent and the rate of uptake of NO2 have been studied. The type of chars produced and the activation processes affect the adsorption. As activation increases, micropore volume and surface area increase and the maximum capacity of the adsorbent increases. Surface area alone is not the only parameter which affects equilibrium uptake.