Carbon-based aerogel fabricated from waste biomass is a potential absorbent material for solving organicpollution. Herein, the lightweight, hydrophobic and porous carbon aerogels (CAs) have been synthesizedthrough freezing–drying and post-pyrolysis by using waste newspaper as the only raw materials. Theas-prepared CAs exhibited a low density of 18.5 mg cm−3and excellent hydrophobicity with a water con-tact angle of 132◦and selective absorption for organic reagents. The absorption capacity of CA for organiccompounds can be 29–51 times its own weight. Moreover, three methods (e.g., squeezing, combustion,and distillation) can be employed to recycle CA and harvest organic pollutants. Combined with wastebiomass as raw materials, green and facile fabrication process, excellent hydrophobicity and oleophilic-ity, CA used as an absorbent material has great potential in application of organic pollutant solventsabsorption and environmental protection.