The whey is often disposed incorrectly, although it has a high nutritional value. Adsorption processes are frequently employed for the whey proteins recovery and minimization of their environmental impact. Alternative adsorbents have been developed from agro-industrial byproducts adding value to them. The objective of this work was to produce an activated charcoal from the black, green and sour (PVA) coffee defect, aiming to the adsorption of whey proteins. The whey dilutions were made with sodium phosphate 20 mmol/L buffer, at different pH values (2.5, 4.5 and 7.5), in a ratio of 1:4 (whey:buffer). For the preparation of the adsorbents, phosphoric acid 85% was added to the PVA defect in the ratio of 3: 1 (acid:precursor). Samples were pre-activated at 80 °C for 24 h, followed by a carbonization at 500 °C for 1 h. Afterward, the charcoals were washed with hydrochloric acid solution (5.0 mol/L), distilled water and dried at 105 °C for 24 h. The adsorption assays were conducted in batch mode, using 0.01 g of the adsorbent and 10 mL of the protein solution. The samples were kept under stirring (50 rpm) for 24 h at 25 °C. Protein quantification was determined by the Bradford method. The adsorptive capacity (q, mg / g) was calculated and the results were submitted to regression analysis. The charcoal was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy and point of zero charge (PZC). The coal presented a PZC equal to 2.0 and a microporous structure. Through the regression analysis, it was verified that the linear and quadratic effects of pH significantly affected (p <0.05) the variable q. The highest value of q (243,802 mg/g) was obtained using the protein solution at pH 2.5. Activated charcoals produced from the PVA defect proved to be excellent adsorbents for whey proteins.