<p>The present study has focussed in the design aspects for bringing about high porosity, high biogenicity in a sustainable adsorbent that can enable high desulphurization from crude oil. While the precursor selected was mixed kitchen waste, the design aspects for a series of activated carbons included chemical activation using ZnCl₂/KOH in varying impregnation ratio (waste biochar: impregnator) and low pyrolysis temperature of 750&#xa0; °C. The outcome of the study showed that all activated carbons were biogenic having same functionality but the use of KOH in the proportion of 1:0.5 as a impregnator could bring about very high porosity and high surface area of 114.74 m²/g in CAC3. The high potential of CAC3 towards desulphurization was verified via lab-scale batch studies in which 81.9% dibenzothiophene and 56.47% of total sulphur was removed via use of 32&#xa0;g/L from model oil and from light crude oil respectively. The efficiency of sulphur removal from crude oil was enhanced to 81% upon increase in dosage to 64&#xa0;g/L. Uptake of sulphur components was verified by Fe-SEM studies. The affinity of sulphur components onto CAC3 was verified by modelling studies to be monolayer and heterolayer when the oil considered was light crude oil and model oil respectively. Another significant aspect was the capacity of CAC3 to endure repeated adsorption–desorption and showing total sulphur removals of 50% after the fourth cycle. The positive aspects of CAC3 can serve as a prospective stand-alone technological solution for industrial scale oil refining or as a pre-treatment prior to hydrodesulphurization.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>