Heavy-metal ions are common pollutants in wastewater and are thus attracting considerable attention. Herein, an eco-friendly biodegradable adsorbent, iminodisuccinic acid (IDS) modified attapulgite (ATP) is prepared by graft-polymerization to reduce Cu(II) in water, referred as IDS-ATP. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of IDS-ATP for Cu(II) is increased by 329.5% and 272% compared with raw ATP and non-degradable chelator ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-modified ATP (EDTA-ATP), respectively. Moreover, the adsorption capacities for Cu(II) in combined system increased by 186% compared with in single system. The structure and surface properties of IDS-ATP are characterized, demonstrating that the IDS moieties are anchored on the surface of ATP without structural damage. In the aqueous Cu(II) (64 mg /L), the best adsorption pH is 5.0, the best dosage is 800 mg/L, and the adsorption equilibrium time is 4 h. The adsorption of IDS-ATP is chemical adsorption and regenerated adsorbent still exhibits high adsorption capacity. The adsorption mechanism includes the coordination of amino groups with Cu(II), the chelation of -COOH on heavy metals (HMs), and the ion exchange. Taking Cu(II) as an example to study the process of IDS-ATP in water, it is beneficial to apply this degradable material to reduce the other HMs.