Abstract: Exploring the influencing factors of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation under the construction of "Zero-waste City" will help guide cities to formulate effective governance plans. Based on the grey system and taking 11 pilot cities for the construction of "Zero-waste City" in China as the object, the grey correlation analysis method was used to study the relevant influencing factors of MSW generation, and the amount of MSW generated in the next 9 years was predicted through the grey prediction model. The results show that the economic development level of cities has the greatest impact on the amount of MSW, and the influence degree of related influencing factors is in the order of regional GDP > total retail sales of consumer goods > proportion of tertiary industry > per capita GDP. The results of the GM(1,1) model predicting the MSW generation in 10 pilot cities show that the annual growth rate of MSW generation in Chongqing City and Shenzhen City will remain relatively stable from 2023 to 2030, and the annual growth rate of MSW generation in 8 cities, including Weihai City, Panjin City and Sanya City, will decrease year by year, with Tongling City having the largest decrease and Shaoxing City having the smallest decrease. The GM(1,N) model with five relevant influencing factors was used to predict the MSW generation of six pilot cities. The results show that the annual growth rate of MSW generation in Panjin City and Chongqing City from 2023 to 2030 will have a decreasing trend, while the annual growth rate of Shenzhen City, Xuchang City, Sanya City, and Xuzhou City will increase year by year, with the largest increase in Shenzhen City and the smallest in Xuzhou City. The research results could provide effective strategic support for urban solid waste management in the context of "Zero-waste City" construction.