Bioremediation is an established remediation strategy used in numerous industries including sewage treatment, water course management and disused mine remediation. A literature review has indicated that there is sufficient evidence to support the use of organic materials, with biosorptive properties, as a viable bioremediation technique targeted towards the treatment of waste effluents and sludges. Previous studies have found that algae can sequester metals (heavy metals and radionuclides) from a dilute solution to high efficiency and in rapid intrinsic kinetics, thus potentially making biosorption an ideal candidate for high volume low concentration complex waste streams. Since algae-based biosorbents are inexpensive, and characterised by high sorption kinetics towards a variety of heavy metals and radionuclides, this particular group of microorganism has been selected for closer investigation of its remedial potential.