TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY - Preferred Source: The carbon-supported catalyst is derived from a membrane electrode assembly from a proton exchange membrane fuel cell or a direct methanol fuel cell. Preferred Component: The membrane electrode assembly comprises a proton exchange membrane. Preferred Condition: The carbon-supported catalyst is adhered on the proton exchange membrane.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method further comprises separating the proton exchange membrane and the carbon-supported catalyst using a polar stripping solvent having a dielectric constant of more than 2. The noble metal is dissolved using an acid oxidizing solution, followed by a basic oxidizing solution or vice versa. Preferred Component: The noble metal comprises platinum, ruthenium, gold, palladium, rhodium, rhenium, and/or iridium. The oxidizing solution comprises an acid solution and/or a basic solution. The acid solution comprises a solution of aqua regia, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, and/or phosphoric acid. The basic solution comprises a hypochlorite solution, an alkali metal hydroxide solution, and/or an alkali earth metal hydroxide solution.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Solvent: The polar stripping solvent comprises alcohol, ether, ketone, and/or ester. EXAMPLE - A membrane electrode assembly was put into a 50 wt % solution of isopropanol (100 ml). The proton exchange membrane was separated with carbon cloth and carbon-supported catalyst by stirring and heating at 80 degrees C for 1 hour. The proton exchange membrane was washed by an isopropanol solution to remove the carbon powder on the surface, and dried for reuse. The residual solid comprising the carbon-supported catalyst and carbon cloth was cut into small chips. Each gram of the chips comprised platinum (0.057 g) and ruthenium (0.015 g). The chips (10 g) were added into a mixture of a solution of aqua regia (30 ml) and deionized water (10 ml). The mixture was heated to 100 degrees C, stirred for 1 hour, and filtered. The filtrate was kept. The residual filter cake was added into a mixture of sodium hypochlorite (100 ml) solution and 2N sodium hydroxide (10 ml) solution. The mixture was heated to 60 degrees C for 2 hours, and filtered. The filtrate was kept. The residual cake was added into a mixture of a solution of aqua regia (30 ml) and deionized water (10 ml). The mixture was heated to 100 degrees C, stirred for 1 hour, and filtered. The filtrate was kept. The filtrates were detected by an inductive coupling plasma test. The result indicated that platinum (0.566 g) and ruthenium (0.143 g) were recovered. The recovery rate of platinum was 99.3% and the recovery rate of ruthenium was 95.3%.