Single and binary adsorption behaviors of salicylic acid and 5-sulfosalicylic acid onto hypercrosslinked polymeric adsorbents, i.e. NDA-101 and NDA-99 were investigated. The Freundlich model can successfully describe all the adsorption isotherms tested, which indicates a favorable and exothermic adsorption process. The adsorption of salicylic acid relies on p-p interaction, while the electrostatic interaction further influences the adsorption of 5-sulfosalicylic acid onto NDA-99. The adsorptive capacity of salicylic acid on NDA-99 decreases but increases on NDA-101 with 5-sulfosalicylic acid as the background component in a binary solute system. The amount of 5-sulfosalicylic acid adsorbed was decreased with the increase in initial concentration of salicylic acid on both adsorbents. The competition for the adsorption sites is considered to be predominant in the solid-to-liquid interaction process. The adsorption selectivity of salicylic acid onto NDA-101 is higher than onto NDA-99 by more than an order of magnitude. Thus, combination technique involving NDA-101 followed by NDA-99 can be effectively applied to separate and recover salicylic acid and 5-sulfosalicylic acid from wastewater.