School waste management is a potential critical issue in most of the countries as it has not yet been focused as a significant problem. Consolidated global statistics of waste generation in schools is not available at present while each student in an average generates 25 to 100 grams of waste a day in school with potential impacts on public health and environmental. India and Indonesia have significant contribution in these areas as the largest populous country and island country respectively. In addressing this issue, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture initiated the Adiwiyata program since 2015 while in India a flagship private international initiative " Catch Them Young: Zero Waste & Circular Economy in Campus " (CTY:ZW&CEC) started in 2024. Using a mixedmethods technique of literature review, case studies, and empirical data analysis, this research assesses the performance of Adiwiyata in enhancing environmental literacy, decreasing waste generation, and promoting the 3R principles (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). It is then compared to global eco-school initiatives, and CTY:ZW&CEC noting its distinct community-based focus. The program, despite sustainability and resource allocation issues, is successful in achieving long-term environmental care among students as well as assisting in country-level sustainability objectives. The results show that Adiwiyataimplementing schools exhibit marked improvements in waste segregation, composting, and recycling, as well as enhanced involvement of students and teachers in environmental care while CTY:ZW&CEC inducts the students in circular economy and brings a cultural change among the students from waste throwing to waste utilisation and developing business models from recycled products. The research underscores the importance of trash banks as educational and financial assets that support circular economy concept. The results of this study will be helpful to the readers and policy makers.
Warmadewanthi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.