Vinasse has great pollution to the environment. A number of technologies have been explored for reducing the pollution of vinasse. Sustainability has become an important factor when discussing wastewater treatment techniques. Emergy analysis was used to evaluate the treatment of cassava vinasse in this paper. Cr (emergy consumption ratio) as a new emergy index was proposed to measure the impact of waste treatment to the society. Centrifugal solid-liquid separation, UASB (up-flow anaerobic sludge bed), and SBR (sequencing batch reactor activated sludge process) are used in the treatment process. The emergy indices for cassava vinasse treatment system were as follows: EYR (emergy yield ratio) was 6.20, ELR (environmental loading ratio) was 5.81, ESI (emergy sustainability index) was 1.07, and Cr was 4.60E+12 sej/m(3). The emergy of coal electricity accounts for 46% of all purchased inputs. It is necessary to improve the treatment technology to reduce the electricity used. (C) 2013 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.