In this study, a novel activated carbon adsorbent from the press mud of a sugarcane industry was used to remove methyl orange dye (MOD) from aqueous solution and was optimized via response surface methodology using the central composite design. The adsorbent was characterized by FTIR and SEM analysis and showed the presence of functional groups such as alcohols, nitriles, amides, alkane, alkyl halides, and alkenes, and it also showed fibrous surface morphological appearance. The factors affecting MOD adsorption, such as initial concentration, adsorbent dose, and contact time were examined, and optimal pH 2.0 to remove MOD in an aqueous solution that is found in various studies is also utilized. The results showed maximum MOD removal rate of 98.68% when the initial concentration, adsorbent dose, and contact time were optimally set as 24.17 mg/L, 0.5 g, and 20 min, respectively. The analysis of the equilibrium data revealed that MOD adsorption using press mud activated carbon best fitted the Langmuir isotherm (R 2 = 0.96103) which implies monolayer adsorption process. Also, the kinetics of MOD adsorption using press mud activated carbon followed a pseudo-first-order model (R 2 = 0.96096) which means that the active sites are proportional to the non-active sites during the adsorption process.