The environmental problems in Peru are rooted in the waste management of the residual agricultural biomass. Via our cooperative international research, nine different agricultural wastes from Peru were used as renewable sources to produce activated carbons that were tested in gas-phase xylene adsorption. The special properties of agro-waste activated carbons are the very large mesopore surface area, the narrow pore size distribution within the microporous–mesoporous region, and the slightly acidic character in the presence of oxygen-containing surface groups. The textural, structural, and surface properties of nine agro-waste activated carbons were correlated with their adsorption capacities in xylene adsorption and compared with those of a commercial activated carbon made of black coal. Adsorption capacities of agro-waste activated carbons were in the range of 371–115 mgxylene/gAC, whereas the adsorption capacity was 214 mgxylene/gAC for black coal-activated carbon. Higher adsorption capacities of ACs ca...