The quest for efficient and sustainable route for biodiesel production motivates the investigation of synergies between microwave reactor and calcium oxide (CaO) loaded on zeolite in waste lard biodiesel (WLB) production. The optimum concentration of the precursor used in the impregnation of the zeolite was practically determined. The resultant CaO/zeolite was characterized using some classical techniques and the characterized catalyst in synergy with the microwave reactor was used to optimize and model the biodiesel production process and the reaction optimum conditions in relation to CaO/zeolite amount, microwave power, methanol/oil ratio and time as independent variables were established (8% (wt./vol), 595 Watts, 30:1 and 1.25 h respectively) using central composite design. The conditions generated a maximum WLB yield of 90.89% signifying that the synergies between the reactor and the synthesized catalyst result in an efficient biodiesel production method. Additionally, the catalyst is shown to be easily separated from the reaction product and has the potential to be recycled a number of times under the optimum conditions. This study establishes synergies between microwave reactor system and heterogeneous CaO/zeolite catalyst that result in an economically feasible route for production of an efficient and sustainable WLB. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.