Now that the problems of the longevity of liquid membranes have been solved with the introductin of multi-circuit processes, the supported liquid membrane technique has received a fresh impetus. With the commercial availability of appropriate membranes and large modules with membrane areas of up to 10 m 2, the industrial application of the supported liquid membrane technique seems to be near. So far, it has only been tested in the laboratory on a pilot plant scale. Unfortunately, the worldwide downwards trend in the price of raw metals has delayed the introduction of this new separation technique into the market. At the moment, smelting is still by far the most economical method of producting metals. Against this background, the supported liquid membrane must be seen to have been thoroughly discussed and tested and must be seen as providing to have been thoroughly discussed and tested and must be seen as providing an economical alternative to competing processes. But for the moment it can be seen as a stand-by technology, waiting for a time when the recovery and recycling of metals, including uranium, becomes a more interesting economical prospect. New applications in the field of medicine and especially for gas separation, widely expected but at the moment still in the development stage, make the outlook promising for this multi-faceted technology.