An Inspiring Visit to the MTN Bushfire Compost Site

GREEN HOME and MTN Bushfire have built a solid and fruitful partnership since 2023, as the legendary African festival continues to lead with committed action — reducing waste and moving closer to a truly closed-loop system with compostable food packaging.

But, the circular system that Bushfire is building extends well beyond the big festival weekend and its aftermath. There’s a year-round, ongoing story of integrated waste management.

Catherine Morris with Zwelakhe Dlamini Bushfire Safety Health Officer and Khetsiwe Dlamini HOF Bushfire — Catherine Morris with Zwelakhe Dlamini Safety Health Officer at Bushfire and Khetsiwe Dlamini HOF at Bushfire

Catherine Morris, GREEN HOME’s founder and managing executive, visited the Bushfire compost site recently, and was delighted at the scale and level of circular integration.

MTN Bushfire is held annually at the unique and iconic venue: House on Fire. The venue’s compost site is a living system, fuelled by organic waste and compostable packaging from MTN Bushfire itself, as well as from House on Fire’s Standard Bank Luju Festival and the on-site restaurant, Malandela’s.

Building Circularity

Kitchen waste and GREEN HOME’s compostable packaging are added to the pile throughout the year, together with green waste from the grounds. The nutrient-rich compost which develops over time is used to feed the surrounding land — spread onto both sugarcane plantations and grassy areas. This grows food, some of which is used in the restaurant, and replenishes lawns used for camping during the festival.

Food waste and compostable packaging in the compost pile — Food waste and compostable packaging

In this ongoing circular process: food and packaging become compost, compost provides nutrients to grow food and grass, and that in turn supports people and events once again.

“It’s refreshing to see an organisation working holistically and thinking through the whole process from beginning to end,” says Catherine.”It’s inspiring and feels good to work with nature, not against it.”

In 2025, MTN Bushfire successfully diverted 6,615 kgs of food waste and compostable packaging from landfill, up from 4,000 kgs in 2024. That’s a major step forward in waste reduction and resource recovery. And, as time passes, the amount of waste diverted and re-cycled on the site will keep growing.

The 3 bin system at Bushfire — The 3 bin system is used to separate waste at source at the venue

Waste management is usually something that happens quietly, out of sight and out of mind. There are few events that can put up their hand and invite people to see the behind the scenes when it comes to waste management. Are you closing the loop on waste in your organisation? Would you proudly show off your waste management systems the way Bushfire does?