Coconut (Cocos nuciferas L.) is one of the most widely planted tree species and known as the most versatile natural product. The great versatility of its parts was widely applied in many domestic, commercial, and industrial uses. Currently, a large amount of coconut processing wastes is generated, becoming an environmental problem. So far, the coconut wastes have been used for fertilizer, building materials, and automotive components or left to decompose on the fields. Thus, the development of high value-added product (i.e., adsorbent) from coconut wastes is essential to solve their disposal problems. Besides, it helps in improving the environment quality and sustainability. In recent years, the use of coconut wastes has been extensively studied in adsorbent preparation for specific industrial applications. Studies on coconut waste, such as coconut fiber, coconut shell, desiccated coconut meat waste, coconut tree sawdust, and coconut pith, and their modifications have proved that coconut wastes are potential and beneficial for treating heavy metal pollution in the environment. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights are reserved.