Abstract: It is extremely difficult to deal with the waste acid generated by nonferrous metal smelting because of its high concentrations of sulfuric acid, fluorine, chlorine, arsenic and other impurities. Therefore, recycling of waste acid in the form of industrial sulfuric acid after two-stage processes of decontamination and concentration has become a surefire way. The research progress in the field of decontamination and concentration of waste acid in recent years was reviewed. On the one hand, for the selective removal of heavy metal ions, arsenic, fluorine and chlorine of waste acid, the research focused on several chemical precipitation techniques including sulfide precipitation, chelate precipitation, scorodite precipitation, copper slag precipitation and bismuth oxide precipitation, analyzing and comparing their operation principle, effect and advantages and disadvantages. The optimization direction of different pollutant removal methods was deeply analyzed. On the other hand, aiming at the technologies of concentration of waste acid, the study reviewed evaporation concentration and membrane distillation methods, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of these two methods in the application and the direction of improvement. Finally, the development trend of waste acid recycling technology was prospected to provide a reference for further research in this field.