This work describes a hydrometallurgical route for processing spent commercial catalysts (CoMo and NiMo/Al2O3), for recovering the active phase and support components. They were initially pre-oxidized (500 degrees C, 5 h) in order to eliminate coke and other volatile species present. Pre-oxidized catalysts were dissolved in H2SO4 (9 mol L-1) at similar to 90 degrees C, and the remaining residues separated from the solution. Molybdenum was recovered by solvent extraction using tertiary amines. Alamine 304 presented the best performance at pH around 1.8. After this step, cobalt (or nickel) was separated by adding aqueous ammonium oxalate in the above pH. Before aluminum recovery, by adding NaOH to the acid solution, phosphorus (H2PO4-) was removed by passing the liquid through a strong anion exchange column. Final wastes occur as neutral and colorless sodium sulphate solutions and the insoluble solid in the acid leachant. The hydrometallurgical route presented in this work generates less final aqueous wastes, as it is not necessary to use alkaline medium during the metal recovery steps. The metals were isolated in very high yields (>98 wt.%). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.