Salma Akter is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Waste Bangladesh, an innovative social enterprise dedicated to transforming waste into resources for climate resilience and community well-being. With a strong background in sustainable development and community engagement, Salma has spent over a decade designing and implementing circular solutions that tackle agricultural waste, plastic pollution, and rural energy poverty in Bangladesh.
Under her leadership, Waste Bangladesh has pioneered projects that convert crop residues, cow dung, and poultry litter into nutrient-rich compost and Bioshikha portable biogas units — cutting emissions, improving soil health, and creating new income streams for farmers and women entrepreneurs.
Salma is passionate about empowering grassroots communities to become leaders in climate action and ecosystem restoration. Her work reflects a deep commitment to sustainability, innovation, and social equity — showing that local solutions can drive global impact.
sustainable, affordable and efficient solutions. The primary initiative, Bioshikha Biogas, transforms organic waste into
renewable energy, tackling both waste disposal and energy shortages. Later we focused on municipal waste management
including organic waste to fertilizer. The common scenario of Bangladeshi villages near about 1.17 lakh people die in
every year due to exposure to smoke and harmful chemicals from clay stoves .While mother preparing food often children
play nearby. Mother, children and other family member daily consuming this smoke which is one of the main cause of
lung cancer. In 2023-2024, Bangladesh rear 4535.95 lakh livestock, generate livestock manure. Which is the good source of
methane, that can be used as eco friendly cooking fuel. Waste BD merged the problem to opportunity and introduce
Bioshikha Biogas,across three southern districts in Bangladesh