The Perth metropolitan area is situated over groundwater reserves that are important drinking water sources and play an important role in the environmental quality of the surrounding natural environment. The threat to these water reserves from wastes generated by our society highlights a genuine need for better management. This paper represent's the State's first significant step towards developing a detailed action plan for achieving the State Government's key vision of considerably reducing waste. In particular, this document outlines the Zero Waste Model, which shows how all members of the community contribute in some way to the generation of waste, and provides a framework for improving the choices we make to avoid waste.