The work aims to provide an effective reference pathway and basis for the recycling and high-value conversion of packaging waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET). By summarizing the sources of waste PET, comparing and analyzing different PET foaming process methods and their advantages and disadvantages, analyzing the foaming effect of different foaming agents, and studying the modification methods of PET foaming, the application fields of foam materials derived from waste PET and the development trend of foaming process were summarized. The researches on foam materials derived from waste PET have made great progress in recent years, but the performance optimization of foams still needs to be further explored.A large amount of relevant literature prove the feasibility preparing foaming materials with packaging waste PET. The development of waste PET based foaming materials is in line with the concept of recycling development. It provides more effective ways for recycling and high-value conversion of waste PET, and has a broad development prospect.