The rapid development of social economy leads the output of solid waste to increase rapidly. The traditional treatment methods, such as landfilling, incineration and composting, are not only inefficient, but also have many limitations, such as secondary pollution and waste of resources. Therefore, it is urgent to explore new solid waste treatment technology. Due to its high efficiency, environmental protection and high energy conversion, the plasma gasification technology has been applied to the harmless treatment of solid waste. This article introduces the background and significance of plasma gasification technology in solid waste treatment, and summarizes the application of plasma gasification technology to different solid waste treatments, the technical level and research progress of plasma gasification of solid waste in the world are described in detail, and the existing problems in the current application of plasma gasification of solid waste are emphatically analyzed. It is pointed out that plasma gasification technology is an effective way to treat solid waste.