The degradation of phenolic and polyphenolic compounds present in a bleaching ECF effluent for different advanced oxidation systems is described. Photocatalysis with O2/ZnO/UV, O2/TiO2/UV were demonstrated to be the best sytems to oxidize the effluent in a short period of time. The homogeneous systems O3 and O3/UV also degrade the organic matter but at a lower extent considering the same time of reaction. Reactions were monitored by color changes, pH, COD and BOD.