The last decade has witnessed the influx of significant research output in the area of green sorbents for water and wastewater treatment. These sorbents, which are derived from environmentally friendly, renewable, and locally available sources, such as lignocellulosic materials and biomass, have shown promising results in removing organic dyes, heavy metals, and micropollutants. With recent reports of upscaling efforts in literature, it is timely to critically review the advancements in green sorbents for future research prospects. This study provides a summary of the application of green sorbents prepared from lignocellulosic materials, animal waste, and marine biomass in water treatment. In addition to discussing sorbent regeneration and kinetic modeling, mechanistic insights are presented to elucidate the sorption mechanisms. The focus is on scale-up efforts and identifying future research needs to highlight the potential of green sorbents in the water industry.