Speciation of copper in waste incineration fly ashes (dry scrubber (DS) and bag filter (BF)) has been studied by X-ray absorption near edge structural (XANES) spectroscopy in the present work. Copper species such as metallic Cu, CuO, Cu(OH)2, and a small amount of CuCO3 in the fly ashes could be distinguished by semi-quantitative analysis of the edge spectra. Interestingly, nano CuO (37%) were found in the BF fly ash, that might account for its relatively high leachability of copper. ? 2007 American Institute of Physics.