Abstract: The possibility of utilizing waste cotton-based yarns for removal of lead and chromium ions from polluted water was investigated as an attempt to reuse textile waste and reduce its disposal costs. Waste cotton (CY) and cotton/polyester (CY/PES) yarns were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, iodine sorption, water retention, and streaming potential method for determination of an isoelectric point. Obtained results showed that presence of polyester component in yarn structure reduces the porosity of 1 snezana.mihajlovic9@gmail.com 2 mvukasinovic@tmf.bg.ac.rs 3 biljanap@tmf.bg.ac.rs 4 risticm@tmf.bg.ac.rs 5 alexp@tmf.bg.ac.rs 6 trivunac@tmf.bg.ac.rs 7 marijab@tmf.bg.ac.rs 118 cotton/polyester yarn surface, while on the other hand, increases its surface, and structural crystallinity. Consequently, CY/PES showed lower adsorption capacity, compared to the CY. Both cotton and cotton/polyester yarns showed relatively fast adsorption of lead and chromium ions from binary mixture, which follows the pseudo-second order kinetic, while adsorption equilibrium data fitted better the Langmuir isotherm model. It was shown that both cotton and cotton/polyester yarns can be applied as low-cost adsorbents for efficient removal of lead and chromium ions from water, at the same time satisfying the needs for a cleaner environment and circular economy.