The capital and regeneration costs of activated carbon and ion exchange media suggest that better process economics may be achieved with disposable sorbents for the treatment of metals-contaminated water and waste streams. An extensive literature search was conducted to identify potentially inexpensive sorbents that could be disposed, rather than regenerated, after use. The literature indicates that many materials with this potential are readily available, either as process by-products or in their natural form. The most promising sorbents identified in this literature search will be tested at bench scale with synthetic metal solutions.