Recent results on catalytic wet air oxidation applied to a membrane contactor are presented that give new insight following a series of previous publications. Model and industrial effluents are treated in both single tube and multichannel catalytic systems. Characterisation of the catalytic material (solid analyses, electron microscopy, EDS and EPMA) is carried out, in order to determine the catalyst distribution. Catalytic results show performances heavily dependent on the nature of the effluent and the operating conditions, and to a lesser extent on the catalytic membrane characteristics. At 80 degrees C, an industrial effluent is oxidised at a membrane surface related rate of 3.8 mmol/s/m(2). This result is achieved using a membrane containing about 0.1 wt.% Pt. This allows a revised and improved technico-economical evaluation of the Watercatox process. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.