Recovery of rare earths from waste cathode ray tube (CRT) phosphor powder with organic and inorganic ligands

•The pyrophosphate ion was employed as a selective lixiviant for REEs.•Leaching from untreated phosphor powder from CRTs was extremely limited.•Thermal and alkaline pretreatments released the REEs for subsequent leaching.•High extractions of REEs were achieved at room temperature with matrix pretreatment.•Recovery as RE hydroxides was attained by modifying the solution pH. Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) have an appreciable amount of rare earth elements (REEs). In this document, the leaching and recovery of the REEs from CRTs, with different organic and inorganic ligands is presented. Among the complexing agents tested, the pyrophosphate ion was found to be the most advantageous for the extraction of REEs from CRTs, as an alternative to the traditional methods that use highly acidic solutions (pH