Organic municipal solid waste enriched with wheat straw was subjected to wet-oxidation as a pre-treatment for subsequent enzymatic conversion and fermentation into bio-ethanol. The effect of temperature (185-195 °C), oxygen pressure (3-12 bar) and sodium carbonate (0-2 g l-1) addition on enzymatic cellulose and hemicellulose convertibility was studied at a constant wet oxidation retention time of 10 minutes. An enzyme convertibility assay at high enzyme loading (25 filter paper unit (FPU) g-1 dry solids (DS) added) showed that up to 78% of the cellulose and up to 68% of the hemicellulose in the treated waste could be converted into respectively hexose and pentose sugars compared to 46% for cellulose and 36% for hemicellulose in the raw waste. For all wet oxidation conditions tested, total carbohydrate recoveries were high (> 89%) and 44-66% of the original lignin could be converted into non-toxic carboxylic acids mainly (2.2-4.5 % on DS basis). Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the treated waste at 10% DS by Saccharomyces cerevisae yielded average ethanol concentrations of 16.5 to 22 g l-1 for enzyme loadings of 5 and 25 FPU g-1 DS, respectively. The cellulose to ethanol conversion efficiency during SSF was 50, 62, 65 and 70% for a total enzyme loading of 5, 10, 15 and 25 FPU g-1 DS, respectively. Hence, this study shows that wet oxidation is a suitable pre-treatment for the conversion of organic waste carbohydrates into ethanol and that compatible conversion yields (60-65%) can be achieved at moderate enzyme loadings.