A comparison study for extraction of rare earths from waste Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) phosphors was carried out before and after dilute acid pretreatment process. The results show that the optimum conditions for the pretreatment process are as follows: hydrochloric acid concentration 0.8 mol·L-1

reaction temperature 65℃

and leaching time 2 h. Compared with the untreated sample

extraction rate of rare earths for pretreated sample increases from 21.18% to 60.17%

whereas for impurities the rate decreases from 45.21% to 10.43%. The rare earth products obtained after precipitation and sintering are mainly Y2O3 and Eu2O3

total content of rare earth oxides 98.20% among them Y2O3 90.25%

which are of cubic crystal

and close integration of lamella crystals to form a compact structure. The dilute acid pretreatment process can not only improve the efficiency of rare earth extraction and achieve sustainable and efficient utilization of rare earth resources

but also reduce the consumption of reagent and provide research foundation and technical support for comprehensive utilization of waste electronic products.