<p>Agriculture waste, particularly rice straw (RS) is a renewable resource that can effectively be used to produce a higher amount of modified SiO₂ compared to other lignocelluloses. Present study proposed the extraction of Bio-SiO₂ from RS. The extracted silica was utilized as a catalyst for Methylene Blue (MB) dye removal from wastewater. Various characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, UV-DRS, and FTIR were used to identify the surface characteristics of Bio-SiO₂. The effect of various operating parameters was used to optimize the maximum dye removal. At the optimal treatment condition, ~ 86% dye removal was obtained after 20&#xa0;min of treatment with 20 mg L^− 1 of dye concentration, 100 mg L^− 1 Bio-SiO₂ and pH = 8 under UV-visible light irradiation. The kinetics of dye degradation was followed by Pseudo first-order kinetics. Scavenger test analysis was used to identify the main role of hole and hydroxyl radicals in dye removal. Repeatability and reusability test analysis were also used to confirm the stability of as-prepared catalysts. The proposed study may establish a promising, effective, and sustainable pathway toward attaining the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 12.</p>