The invention relates to the partial recovery of discarded, spent, or waste fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) equilibrium catalyst by use of a separation device located off site, away from any FCC Process unit or Petroleum Refining area, whereby the separation of recoverable material is achieved by means of both magnetic properties exhibited from contaminated metals deposited on individual catalyst particles and inertial or momentum contributions based on size and density of each individual catalyst particle. The invention provides a process to recover twenty to forty percent of the original discarded, spent, or waste FCC equilibrium catalyst for reuse.