Abstract: A process for transferring environmentally harmful substances which are easily leachable from openly discarded waste material, and which to a large proportion consists of inorganic material, such as spent spot linings for aluminum electrolysis cells, into gaseous form or into leach stable compounds, includes the steps of heating that the material in finely ground form is heated and in that reagents such as silica, water and oxygen are added in a cyclone furnace (1) which includes a heat source (2) for example a plasma generator, and a cylindrical furnace vessel (10). By feeding the waste material and the reagents via a mixing and prereaction chamber (3) which is located between the high temperature source and the vessel (10), a very high proportion of the added materials are reacted in the furnace.