Dr Roger Achkar is the founder and president of the Global Waste Cleaning Network (GWCN) and a renowned engineer and social scientist with a profound commitment to environmental sustainability. He holds advanced degrees in engineering, business, and social sciences from eminent institutions, including Harvard University, the University of Leicester, Cranfield University, and CentraleSupélec. Additionally, he is a distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Leadership.

He combines his technical expertise with strong leadership skills to drive impactful environmental initiatives. His work spans over two decades, during which he has collaborated with various stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, and the private sector, to implement effective waste management, waste-to-energy, and both conventional and renewable energy strategies.

Dr Achkar has held a number of senior and managerial positions at multinational and regional organisations in the MENA region, and has forged a track record of success across multiple industries such as power generation, district energy and cooling, and e-business and marketing consulting. He is currently interested in the role that social science research plays in understanding and addressing the challenges and impacts of renewable and efficient energy systems, sustainable energy transition, and climate change.

Dr Achkar is the inventor of the Integrated Waste Opportunity Cost (IWOC) metric and the Digital Waste-to-Energy Protocol (DW2EP) framework—two pioneering innovations under GWCN that significantly advance the fields of waste valuation and decentralised energy recovery.

Dr Achkar’s contributions to the field are widely recognised, and he has been a keynote speaker at numerous international conferences and seminars. In addition to his professional achievements, Dr Achkar is dedicated to community engagement and promoting awareness about the importance of sustainable energy and waste management. His visionary approach and leadership have earned him several accolades and international awards.

In his role at GWCN, Dr Achkar contributes to the strategy of the network, coordinates partnerships with major NGOs and universities, ensures that the organisation maintains high social responsibility, provides guidance across academic and research programmes of the associated Environmental Network Research Centre, approves commitment of funds, leads sustainability and energy-related programmes and conferences, and supervises technology-based operations.