The destruction of trichloroethylene (TCE) was studied in a bench-scale two-stage molten salt oxidation (MSO) reactor system under oxygen-rich conditions from 1023 to 1173 K, with varying gas residence times from 0.95–1.38 s. Traces of some chlorinated organics such as C₂H₄Cl₂, C₆H₄Cl₂ and C₆H₅Cl were found as by-products during low-temperature test runs (1023 K and 1173 K). However, the major product of an incomplete combustion (PIC) was found to be carbon monoxide (CO), of which emissions were greatly reduced by the increase in the reactor temperature. Destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) of 99.999972–99.999999% and chlorine retention efficiency (CRE) of 99.9985–99.9996% were achieved during TCE destruction. The results of this study suggest that the MSO technology is a more promising technology for the control of TCE emissions from industrial cleaning processes, when compared with other currently applicable technologies.