Waste PET bottle is one of the main solid wastes that can be found everywhere in daily life and in- dustry. Owing to the stable physical and chemical properties of waste PET, it is difficult to degrade and is one of the wastes which needs recycling in nature. The current production of PET and the recycling of waste PET in several major countries were summarized into three main approaches as physical, chemical and biological methods. The principles, development status, advantages and disadvantages of the three main methods were briefly described. The results showed that the current method for large-scale treatment of waste PET was still the physical method. Chemical method was employed as an auxiliary technology, and biological method has still been undergoing research stage. Chemical method might realize the efficient use of waste PET resources. It was possible that the high-efficiency degradation of waste PET could be carried out to prepare new high-purity chemical raw materials according to chemical methods, so as to further improve the recycling resource utilization rate of waste PET up to over 90%. In future, it could be one of the key tech- nologies in waste treatment technology in China.