A suitable alternative to replace fossil fuels is the production of biodiesel from microalgae. They are among the most promising non-food-crop-based biomass feedstocks. In addition, microalgae have the potential to produce lipids with a high productivity such as two to three times more than what we can achieve with plants. Chlorella vulgaris has been a model organism, because of rapid biomass growth and potentially high oil content. The goal of this study was to develop sustainable processes that will increase productivity, maximize production efficiency and reduce production costs. Saline wastewater (SWW) represents a dairy industry waste that can be obtained at no cost whereas disposing the same according to regulations will incur significant costs. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris was examined for its ability to grow on saline wastewater from demineralization of cheese whey used as the basic component of waste culture medium (WCM). The composition of WCM was optimized (carbon, phosphor and nitrogen sources) by response surface methodology and evaluated statistically.