The emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated from painting and coating processes is a worldwide problem as contributing factors to the development of photochemical smog and other environmental problems. Common methods of reducing VOC emissions are adsorption on activated carbon, membrane separation, absorption, incineration, or catalytic oxidation. In this article, the environmental issues caused by VOC emissions and the trend of legislation against such emissions will be surveyed first. Several conventional control technologies will then be summarized and the characteristics of each process will be introduced. Lastly, some examples will be described to show the hybrid processes which have been industrially applied for the recovery of VOC.