The present investigation studied the recycling of zinc from brass ash which is a secondary product produced during the brass smelting process. A retiring cycle was devised to produce high-purity ZnO nanopowders. Recovery of >90 wt of the total zinc available was achieved after the calcination of brass ash at 700 degrees C and a multistage hydrometallurgical treatment at room temperature. ZnO powder produced by the developed method was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron scanning microscopy, ICP-AES and BET analysis. The ZnO nanopowder obtained from the brass ash was well dispersed and the size of the individual particles was in the range of 30-50 nm. The purity of the powder was 99.83 wt, and the surface area was about 30.5 m(2)/g. A relative density level of about 98.1% was reached with ZnO pellets sintered at 1300 degrees C. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.