Resumen en español

In Colombia, the agroindustry of cassava-starch extraction is an important sector of the country's economy; production is focused in Cauca Department; this process uses fresh cassava-roots, water, and electricity as main resources, generating solid and liquid wastes whose inadequate use or disposal brings environmental and economic impacts. In this study were made measures for process optimization supported by tools such as mass balance and study methods, time and motion, considering the technological and socio-economic context of the sector. The results showed process-efficiency between 51 and 59 %; it was identified that the straining stage has the highest water consumption and solid waste generation (fiber cassava pulp); the starch slurry’s sedimentation stage generates the most amount of liquid wastes with high-pollution load. It evidenced the need to standardize and optimize the washing-peeling and strain stages because they require the largest process times; to increase the grating-rasping machine capacity (this critical stage influences the process efficiency and the final starch quality) besides recording the process information as control strategy.