Durian rind (DR) is one of the lignocellulose-containing agro-industrial wastes abundant in many South Asian
counties. Contributing toward a sustainable and zero waste future, DR was utilized as raw material for cellulose
and activated carbon production. A chemical delignification method was adopted to valorize DR into cellulose,
while carbonization and subsequent KOH activation steps were used to convert the DR into activated carbon. The
resulting materials exhibited high adsorption capacity toward Cr6+ (154.2 and 223.3 mg/g for cellulose and
activated carbon, respectively). The activated carbon derived from DR exhibited a faster adsorption rate of Cr6+
compared to cellulose and raw DR. The adsorption of Cr6+ by DR-derived adsorbents exhibited a monolayer
tendency, with isotherm and kinetics data following the Khan and pseudo-second-order models. The total production cost of converting DR into cellulose and activated carbon was evaluated using life-cycle cost analysis
(LCCA). Compared to the cellulose production, DR to activated carbon conversion requires up to 6-fold higher
cost for energy. Based on the economic analysis, ~US$ 2.9 and US$ 4.2 were needed to convert 1 kg DR into
cellulose and activated carbon, respectively.