We demonstrated the metal accumulation potential ofAmaranthus retorflexus, a European weed species, both in moderately and strongly metal-contaminated sites. Metal accumulation in roots, stems, and leaves were studied. We also calculated the bioaccumulation factor (BAF), and translocation factor (TF) values to quantify the metal accumulation, and translocation between plant organs. Our findings indicated that metal accumulation correlated with metal concentration; that is plant organs accumulated higher concentration of metals in the contaminated area than in the control one. We found that the concentrations of Ba, Mn, Sr and Zn were the highest in leaves, and Al, Cr, Cu, Fe and Pb in roots. HighBAFvalue was found for Sr in all studied areas, indicating this metal’s high accumulation potential ofAmaranthus retorflexus. HighTFvalues were found for Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, Mn, Sr and Zn; these metals were successfully transported to aboveground plant organs. We demonstrated thatA. retroflexus, a fast-growing, rapidly spreading weed in Europe, was especially useful for heavy metal phytoremediation and phytoextraction.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10661-023-11422-3.