The reclamation of useful products from solid waste is one method of reducing the disposal problem of solid wastes. There are many research projects concerned with recycling solid wastes into fertilizers and food products. This report describes and evaluates one method for measuring phosphorus in the form of phosphates that are present in solid wastes. The vanadomolybdophosphoric acid method was selected to be investigated as a method for solid waste analyses because of its high range, simplicity, and freedom from interferences. The chemistry which makes this method useful for determining phosphates is believed to involve the substitution of oxyvanadium and oxymolybdenum radicals for the O of PO4 to give a heteropoly compound that is chromogenic. The intensity of yellow color produced is proportional to the concentration of phosphates present; thus the phosphates can be determined colormetrically by measuring the intensity of the yellow color produced when PO4 comes in contact with vanadate and molybdate in an acid solution.