Reuse of the fly ash from the municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) is a policy of Taiwan EPA. However, the fly ash is often classified as a hazardous waste and cannot be reused directly because the concentrations of heavy metals exceed the TCLP regulations. The main objective of this study is to investigate the continuous sintering behavior of fly ash with a rotary kiln and seek a solution to reduce the concentrations of heavy metal to an acceptable value. The partitions of the heavy metals in the process are also considered. The results of TCLP showed that among the metals of Cr, Cd, Cu and Pb, only the concentrations of Pb in raw fly ash exceeded the regulation. At sintering temperatures of 700, 800 and 900 degrees C, the concentration of Pb decreased in sintering products, however, the concentration of Pb still exceeded the limitation at 700 and 800 degrees C. Additionally, the water-washing was used to pre-treat the fly ash before sintering process. The washing treatment effectively reduced the leaching concentrations of Pb to agree the regulations. Therefore, water-washing followed by a sintering treatment is an available process for detoxifying the fly ash of MSWI. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.