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Clay‐based masonry materials such as brick and tile constitute a significant part among construction and demolition debris. These bulky materials, if not reused or recycled, are mostly landfilled for disposal. In this study, three types of these waste materials including hand‐made bricks (H‐bricks), machine‐made bricks (M‐bricks), and ceramic tiles were employed and their capability for adsorption of Zn²⁺ was investigated through batch experiments. The characterization of the adsorbents was performed by using X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray fluorescence, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy imaging, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis. The effect of initial zinc concentration, contact time, solution pH, and adsorbent particle size on Zn²⁺ adsorption onto the adsorbents was studied. The results indicated that the removal efficiency is reduced by increasing initial zinc concentration. Furthermore, M‐brick and …