Ultra becomes largest U.S. festival in over a decade to earn “Greener Festival” certification
Ultra Music Festival proudly ushers in the fifth anniversary of its multi-award-winning sustainability program, ‘Mission: Home,’ marking a major milestone of environmental responsibility and industry leadership. Since its inception in 2019, ‘Mission: Home’ has educated 8.2 million people, diverted nearly 400K pounds of waste and donated more than 84K pounds of resources back to the community – all while driving lasting operational change across vendors, partners, staff, crew, and attendees. The program’s continued growth reached new heights in 2025, executing a record 61 initiatives at Ultra’s sold-out 25th anniversary and earning multiple new sustainability honors.
Now, Ultra Music Festival has achieved A Greener Future’s prestigious “Greener Festival” certification, marking the first time in 13 years that a U.S. festival of Ultra’s scale has secured its standing through this rigorous, internationally-respected assessment program. A Greener Future is a recognized industry leader, dedicated to improving sustainability practices across the entire live events sector. They have certified over 800 festivals across 32 countries since 2007.
Ultra’s certification signifies a new stride forward for U.S. festivals, being the first domestic festival of this scale to meet heightened certification requirements, which have evolved numerous times to keep up with global sustainability standards. It also marks the eleventh sustainability recognition that Ultra has received in ‘Mission: Home’s’ 5-year lifespan.
‘Mission: Home’ was once again honored with the 1st Place SUNsational Award in the Sustainability Program category at the 31st annual Florida Festivals and Events Association (FFEA) Convention & Expo in Orlando, Florida. This marked the third time in five years that Ultra Music Festival was celebrated statewide for its commitment to environmental responsibility. With a network of over 5,500 events, the FFEA recognized 48 organizations as SUNsational Award winners out of over 200 applicants.
Ultra Music Festival was also honored as part of IQ Magazine’s 2025 Green Guardians, an annual list recognizing 20 organizations, events, artists, or suppliers who are driving sustainability in the live entertainment sector. ‘Mission: Home’ earned its place amongst several powerhouse artists, including Coldplay and Massive Attack.
This recognition builds on a growing list of global accolades for Ultra’s sustainability leadership, including being verified as “the most extensive sustainability program across leading U.S. electronic music festivals” by environmental non-profit Debris Free Oceans and winning the Sustainability Team Award at the 2023 World Sustainability Awards ceremony. In 2024, ‘Mission: Home’ was further distinguished as a finalist for the World Sustainability Awards’ for its Sustainability Excellence Award, which recognizes organizations setting new international standards in environmental and social responsibility.
This year’s program demonstrated Ultra’s continued commitment to waste reduction, achieving a significant milestone of 45% waste diversion across ‘Mission: Home’s five-year lifetime, and showcasing Ultra‘s dedication to rescuing, repurposing, and recycling these valuable resources. Over the past five years, ‘Mission: Home’ has diverted nearly 400,000 pounds of waste from landfills – equivalent to the weight of over 30 adult African elephants. Alongside their returning recycling, composting, and donation efforts, ‘Mission: Home’ introduced a new glass recovery program in partnership with Glass for Life, bringing the total number of unique waste diversion streams to nine.
Ultra‘s waste management partner Clean Vibes, a nationally recognized expert in festival waste diversion, once again achieved 100% recyclables acceptance at the local facility while also successfully managing a majority of the nine waste streams. Additionally, they expanded the compost program in partnership with Renuable and maintained exceptionally clean festival grounds, even despite heavy rain and flooding. ‘Mission: Home’ also sustained its cooking oil and soft plastic waste diversion initiatives. Soft plastics were recycled in collaboration with local material recovery experts, Lady Green Recycling.
‘Mission: Home’ continued its long-standing partnership with The Caring Place, a homeless outreach center that has provided services, meals, and shelter in South Florida since 1922. Many of Ultra’s programs are rooted in supporting the local community, including their food rescue program, which has donated over 14,000 pounds of food – the equivalent of nearly 12,000 meals – and over 50,000 pounds of beverages to community partners over the past three years. According to The Caring Place’s Food Service Manager, Anthony Perrone, “The food and beverages rescued from this event allow us to serve the men, women and children of the Miami area, who struggle to find their next meal – on average we serve 1,200 meals a day.”
Through its partnerships with Recreate Miami and Florida Wood Recycling, Ultra continued one of its largest waste-diversion efforts by weight, giving more than 54,000 pounds of post-construction wood a second life. Recreate Miami redistributed usable materials to local creators, while the remaining wood was diverted from landfills through reuse in local landscaping projects.
Beyond waste diversion, the 2025 festival also reinstated its long-standing waste source reduction initiatives, including free water refill stations, bans on Styrofoam and straws, and single-use plastic-free food and general admission bar service. Since ‘Mission: Home’s inception, over 2.6 million plastic items have been eliminated from entering the waste stream. Collaboratively, event bar operations and food vendors have achieved an impressive 91% reduction in the types of single-use plastic present at the festival, such as cups, straws, plates and cutlery, among others.
Ultra continued its commitment to Pollution Prevention and Nature Preservation through its Leave No Tracecampaign, starting with pre-event online messaging to educate attendees, and extending to a bevy of on-site initiatives like staff and crew training; physical and digital signage; responsible cigarette disposal; wildlife and vegetation protection; and partnering with wildlife experts from Love the Everglades Movement. Additional on-site measures include spillage and runoff protocols; bans on confetti and loose glitter; storm drain covers installed by ocean pollution prevention company SOP Technologies, and “Connect to Nature” displays to educate attendees about Bayfront Park’s natural elements and Biscayne Bay’s delicate ecosystems.
‘Mission: Home’ also boasts widespread Community Engagement efforts to inspire its audience and internal partners, offering actionable steps and empowering future leaders. Ultra joined forces with 18 student volunteers and 21 local and regional partners to bring multiple program initiatives to life. New in 2025, a survey for ticketholders was conducted in partnership with a graduate thesis from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, to gain insight of audience perspectives on sustainability, including how ‘Mission: Home’ affects the fan experience, what feedback Ultra fans have for ‘Mission: Home’ and the broader festival sustainability movement.
At the festival’s Eco Village, its 165,000 weekend attendees were able to participate in educational activations from 5 local environmental and social organizations present onsite, including: Clean Miami Beach, Debris Free Oceans, Love the Everglades Movement F Fentanyl and CLEO Institute. Millions of Ultranauts worldwide also learned about ‘Mission: Home’ virtually through the festival’s social media channels and the #ULTRALIVE stream.
Ultra’s 25th anniversary year brought the addition of a new community event, ‘Mission: Home’s first ‘Bayfront Bark’ Pet Adoption Event in partnership with City of Miami Police Department, Downtown Development AuthorityandMiami-Dade County Animal Services.
Also, new this year, ‘Mission: Home’ is providing Ultra fans ongoing opportunities to support local community organizations like Lotus House, the largest women’s shelter in the U.S., through its partnership with Fandiem. Fans can donate to provide school supplies, uniforms, and self-esteem boosting resources for the shelter’s children. In return, Ultra fans enter to win an exclusive trip to Ultra 2026, including festival tickets, round-trip travel and hotel, official Ultra merchandise, limited-edition 25th anniversary accessories, premium mainstage viewing, a ‘Mission: Home’ sustainability tour, and a dedicated Fandiem concierge experience. This initiative allows fans to make a meaningful impact in the community while engaging directly with Ultra’s sustainability and social responsibility efforts.
The program reflects Ultra’s ongoing commitment to protecting Biscayne Bay and Bayfront Park, reducing environmental impact, and inspiring positive action across their community, their industry, and their global audiences. As ’Mission: Home’ celebrates its fifth anniversary and prepares for 2026, it remains future-focused by continuing to expand its influence, fostering environmental consciousness and meaningful engagement both on and off festival grounds for years to come.
