A method and a device for separation of at least one catalyst and/or adsorbent from a homogeneous mixture of catalysts and/or adsorbents containing one or more metal, semi-metal or non-metal contaminant(s) deposited thereon, making it possible to separate catalysts or adsorbents according to the presence or absence of contaminant and also according to the contaminant content, starting from a sorting threshold that corresponds to a content and that is defined by the operator.