Abstract Air pollution and soil pollution from organic and inorganic wastes are one of the major problems all over the world. Furthermore, disposal of these organic and inorganic wastes is very costly. In the present investigation, the organic waste considered is rice husk ash (RHA). Rice husk was collected from rice mill industries. The inorganic waste considered is fly ash. Fly ash was collected from thermal power plant industries. By utilizing these wastes in the development of composite materials, some environmental problems can be reduced. In this study, an attempt was made to develop AA6061 base composite material reinforced with different weight percentages of RHA and fly ash. Microstructure of RHA- and fly ash–reinforced composite shows proper distribution of reinforcements. Maximum tensile strength was found to be 145.5 MPa for AA6061 + 5 % RHA + 10 % fly ash composite. Minimum porosity and maximum hardness was found to be 0.80 % and 88 HRB, respectively, for AA6061 +7.5 wt% RHA + 7.5 wt% fly ash hybrid metal matrix composite. In the same way, minimum corrosion loss and minimum thermal expansion were 0.12 mg and 20 mm3 for AA6061 +7.5 wt% RHA + 7.5 wt% fly ash hybrid metal matrix composite, respectively. Minimum water absorption and minimum soil degradation was also found for AA6061 + 7.5 wt% RHA +7.5 wt% fly ash hybrid metal matrix composite. However, density of composites continuously decreases by increasing the percentage of RHA and fly ash in the development of composites.