A process for recovering a metal chloride or mixed metal chloride from a solid waste material comprising recoverable metal containing constituents produced by lead, copper or zinc smelting and refining processes, said process comprising the steps of: (i) heating the solid waste material; (ii) treating the heated material of step (i) with a gaseous chloride to form a gaseous metal chloride containing product; and (iii) treating the gaseous metal chloride containing product of step (ii) to recover the metal chloride or mixed metal chloride. The metal chloride may be further treated to extract the metal itself.