PURPOSE: To electrolytically collect heavy metals from a waste bath contg. the heavy metals without the generation of gaseous chlorine and to provide a closed loop system which maintains this bath under operation conditions for a long period of time by continuously removing liquid from an ammoniacal copper etching bath based on chloride, subjecting the liquid removed in such a manner to direct electrolytic regeneration and continuously returning the liquid of the regenerated bath to the main bath.

CONSTITUTION: This method for electrolytically collecting the heavy metals from he bath 4 contg. the heavy metals consists of the method for subjecting the bath to an electrolysis using an etching resist cathode 8 and an anode 10 selected from a group consisting of etching resist metals at least partly coated with the layer of the etching resist metal and conductive noble metal oxide, hanging at least one sheet of a bipolar plate 12 selected from a group consisting of sheets of the etching resist metals at least one surface of which are coated with the layer of tantalum and conductive metal oxide in the bath and electrically connecting a bipolar plate to the anode 10 or the cathode 8.