Nowadays, many developed cities in Indonesia such as Banda Aceh intend to change their existing waste management systems to be more efficient and sustainable to achieve what can be called zero-waste practice. Recycling rates of up to 100% and recovery of all resources from waste materials are some of the elements embedded in the zero-waste city concept. However, to change from the cities that generate too much waste to the cities that are garbage-free is a tough challenge. Therefore, this research aimed to find out the opportunities, threats, and challenges in order to optimise and transform conventional waste management into zero waste principles. This research used in-depth interviews with waste experts, literature studies on waste management in other cities in Indonesia and other countries as well as examined government policies. The result of this research shows the challenges of turning a city into a zero waste one, such as how to design a product that generates less waste, what kind of zero waste city looks like, how to conduct the recycling process and what the responsibility of producers are, and how to optimize the rate of materials and waste recovery. However, its implementation should be affordable, practical, and effective within the framework of regional regulations.