To efficiently recover volatile chemical substances of higher boiling points than that of water such as a water-soluble solvent contained in exhaust gas by replacing it with steam and to recover powder of active carbon, or the like, having adsorbed chemical substances such as dioxins from exhaust gas containing the powder of the active carbon, or the like, having adsorbed chemical substances such as dioxins.

The apparatus is constituted so that the exhaust gas containing the substances of higher boiling points than that of water is introduced into a plate column provided with a plurality of stages of trays, having the structure in which gas cannot escape to an upper part without passing through water existing on the trays or into a packed column packed with a hydrophilic filler from a lower part thereof and meanwhile water is fed from an upper part of the column to concentrate the substances of higher boiling points than that of water based on the gas-liquid equilibrium relation between the exhaust gas and water at the lower part of the column and further to shift the residual substances in the exhaust gas into water at the upper part of the column.