Delactosed whey permeate (DWP) is a side stream of whey processing， which often is discarded as waste， despite of its high residual content of lactose， typically 10-20%. Microbial fermentation is one of the most promising approaches for valorizing nutrient rich industrial waste streams， including those generated by the dairies. Here we present a novel microbial platform specifically designed to generate useful compounds from dairy waste. As a starting point we use Corynebacterium glutamicum， an important workhorse used for production of amino acids and other important compounds， which we have rewired and complemented with genes needed for lactose utilization. To demonstrate the potential of this novel platform we produce ethanol from lactose in DWP.