To separate defective products and waste materials of composite materials consisting of hybrid bodies composed of metallic materials, such as printed circuit boards, and nonmetallic materials to metallic components and nonmetallic components with good accuracy and to recover these components as valuables for recycling.

The composite materials which are materials to be treated are subjected to shearing and destroying by a shear, etc., then to pulverizing by a hammer mill, etc., to form a powder mixture composed of metallic particles and nonmetallic particles and this powder is passed through either or both of an eddy current sorter and an electrostatic sorter, by which the metallic particles are separated from the nonmetallic particles.