Chemical and electrochemical surface treatment processes such as electroplating, pickling, etching, anodizing etc. are a issue of environmental protection. Such surface modification procedures often have a high consumption of chemicals and produce a lot of waste water and heavy metal wastes. Material loss minimized process technology is the result of system optimization between internal recycling processes and external waste recycling. Cost savings, process safety, quality control and environmental compatibility are aims of the complex task system optimization. Process units for surface treatment (process solution), rinsing, concentration and regeneration, are the main focus of system optimization. In this article the relationship of different process variables are discussed in a summary. The optimum degree of internal recovery of surface treatments process chemicals from the rinsing water concentrate is a key criterion in system optimization.