A preliminary study of specific catalysts used to oxidize organic compounds which are hazardous to the environment is presented. The catalytic oxidation of phenol in an aqueous solution using commercially supported copper oxides was studied in a continuous trickle-bed reactor at three temperatures (120, 140 and 160 degrees C) and under three partial pressures of oxygen (0.6, 0.9 and 1.2 MPa) using molecular oxygen or air as oxidation agents. The influence of various parameters is presented. Over the range of conditions used, the oxidation kinetics are first order with respect to phenol and COD (chemical oxygen demand) reduction and half order with respect to the partial oxygen pressure. The results are similar when using air or oxygen as an oxidizing agent. Activation energies for phenol oxidation and COD conversion were found to be 85 and 76 kJ/mol.