The oxidation of organic and inorganic pollutants present in tannery effluents has been realised by electrochemical way. The influence of the electrochemical reactor parameters was carried out by the use of Doehlert matrix. The obtained results have shown that the current intensity and the electrolysis time were the main influent parameters on the removal ratio of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), electrochemical oxidation of trivalent chromium and sulphite ions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.