A microwave steam distillation (MSD) of essential oils from fresh citrus by-products (orange peels) was studied. The effectiveness of this innovative method in extraction of citrus essential oils have been evaluated and compared to conventional steam distillation. MSD offers important advantages like shorter extraction time (6 min), cleaner features and provides an essential oil with better sensory properties (better reproduction of natural fresh fruit aroma of the citrus essential oil) at optimized power (500 W). Results from chemical and cytological approaches confirm the effectiveness of this new technique, that allows substantial savings in terms of time and energy. Industrial relevance: The treatment of by-products represents a strong demand for industrial fruits processing, which produces tonnages of waste material such as peels, seeds and fibers. The disposal of these materials usually represents an industrial legal restriction problem. Moreover, the waste treatment represents significant costs and is often misjudged by companies. Transformation of waste products with high value-added allows companies to reduce the global treatment costs, sometimes even to take some profits and thus improve their competitiveness. Moreover, the recovery process of by-products is part of the current existing sustainable development and environmental protection.