Novel Fe supported catalysts were prepared by immobilizing iron species on commercial polyethylene via three different methods: (1) acidic pre-treatment of the polyethylene followed by impregnation in aqueous Fe(NO3)(3), (2) TiO2 photo-catalytic pre-treatment of the polyethylene followed by forced hydrolysis of Fe(NO3)(3), and (3) direct photo-Fenton attack with concomitant iron deposition on the polyethylene surface. The last method required soft conditions and led to the most photo-active Fe-polyethylene film. With this material, at a non-adjusted initial pH of 5.6 in the presence of H2O2, total degradation and 50% of resorcinol mineralization were observed in 40 and 60 min, respectively. Photo-Fenton functionalization/Fe-deposition process was also applied to polypropylene, high-impact polystyrene, and polymethylmethacrylate films. The efficiencies of all the prepared heterogeneous photo-catalysts were similar to that of an homogeneous photo-Fenton system containing the same amount of Fe3(+)/2(+) that leached during "heterogeneous" processes. That demonstrated than in our systems mainly homogeneous photo-Fenton reactions were responsible for the resorcinol degradation. The photo-catalytic activity observed for the Fe/polymer was a function of the specific polymer capacity to release the initially deposited iron into the solution. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.