The invention discloses an apparatus and a method for recovery of rectification residue effective components and comprehensive treatment of waste gas in a polyvinyl alcohol production process. According to the present invention, the apparatus comprises a residue tank, a U-shaped pipe, a condenser, a vacuum unit, a distillation groove, a distillate discharge pump, a residue pool, an alkali washingtower, an alkali liquid circulating pump, an induced draft fan, an acetylene gas scrubber and an alkali liquid supplementing pump; the method comprises: light component and heavy component separation,light component cooling, and waste gas alkali washing and water washing; and through the effectively utilization and comprehensive treatment of residue components, the utilization rate of raw materials is increased, the production cost is reduced, the recycling of the waste alkali liquid generated in the synthesis section is achieved, and the pollutant discharge is reduced.