PURPOSE: To recover silver in high yields in less stages without generating harmful gases in recovering of silver from photographic films by utilizing microbes or combination of enzyme and microbes.

CONSTITUTION: Used or unused but discarded photographic films 1 which are stuck with photosensitive emulsions and gelatin are rinsed if necessary and are treated in a tank contg. an aq. enzyme soln. in an enzyme treating stage 2, whereby the gelatin is decomposed to the state of permitting easy digestion by microbes in the next stage. The films stuck with the greater part of silver intact are immersed in a tank wherein aerobic annd anaerobic bacteria such as amoebas, trypanosomas or the like are cultured, in a biological treating stage 3. Then only the microbes digesting the gelatin alone live and propagate and the silver in the emulsions are separated from the films. The greater part of the silver settles as silver mud. Since part thereof sticks on the films, the stuck silver is forcibly removed in a rinsing and agitating stage 4. The films are recovered and the silver mud is refined and is recovered as pure silver.