NOVELTY - Recovering tungsten from a spent catalyst comprising a supported heteropolytungstic acid involves: a) contacting the spent catalyst with an extractant selected from water, methanol and/or ethanol for sufficient time to extract at least part of the heteropolytungstic acid from it; b) separating the extractant containing heteropolytungstic acid from the treated spent catalyst; c) contacting the extractant with a strong acid ion exchange resin to remove corrosion metals contained in it and d) recovering the treated extractant for subsequent use.    USE - For recovering tungsten from a spent catalyst comprising a supported heteropolytungstic acid, where the spent catalyst is useful to effect dehydration of ethoxyethane and/or ethanol to form ethane (claimed). The heteropolytungstic acid is useful in chemical industry to catalyze industrial processes such as isomerization of paraffins, preparation of N-acetyl aminophenols, bis-phenols, ethyl benzene or cumene, and dehydration of alcohols and alkoyalkanes to produce alkenes.    ADVANTAGE - The process allows for efficient recovery of heteropolytungstic acids from spent catalysts thus avoiding the cost and time associated with generating fresh catalysts from new sources of tungsten. The fresh catalysts produced from heteropolytungstic acids recovered by the process have the same performance characteristics as equivalent catalysts produced from completely new and independent sources of the heteropolytungstic acid. The process thus minimizes the need to purchase and use anything more than a minimum amount of extra tungsten or tungsten compounds. Furthermore, by essentially recycling previously used tungsten, the process leads to important environmental benefits. The process is applicable on a commercial scale to a wide range of spent heteropolytungstic acid catalysts and is especially suitable for treating spent catalysts used in the conversion of alcohols and alkoyalkanes to alkenes, especially the conversion of ethanol and/or ethoxyethane containing water to ethene.