Abstract: The method of treating liquid waste in a media is accomplished by exposing the media to phosphinimines and sequestering .sup.99 Tc from the media by the phosphinimine (PN) functionalities. The system for treating the liquid waste in the media includes extraction of .sup.99 TcO.sub.4.sup.- from aqueous solutions into organic solvents or mixed organic/polar media, extraction of .sup.99 Tc from solutions on a solid matrix by using a container containing PN functionalities on solid matrices including an inlet and outlet for allowing flow of media through an immobilized phosphinimine ligand system contained within the container. Also, insoluble suspensions of phosphinimine functionalities on solid matrices in liquid solutions or present on supported liquid membranes (SLM) can be used to sequester .sup.99 Tc from those liquids.