The sorption of Cu(II) onto waste residue left after extraction of juice from Indian gooseberry (Amla) fruit (Emblica officinalis) was studied. Equilibrium isotherms, kinetic data and thermodynamic parameters have been evaluated. Equilibrium data agreed well with Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. The kinetic data followed pseudo-second-order model and it was found that intra-particle diffusion was not the sole rate-controlling factor. Gibbs free energy showed spontaneous process for all interactions. The breakthrough and exhaustive capacities were found to be 4.0 and 24.0 mg/g respectively. Emblica officinalis was shown to be a promising sorbent for Cu(11) removal from aqueous solutions. The practical utility of the sorbent has been demonstrated by achieving 97.60% removal of Cu(II) from electroplating wastewater by column process. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.