Sustainability at MOS Urban
We design and manufacture street furniture that shapes public life across Australia. We believe the materials we choose, the supply chains we build, and the emissions we track all matter — because great design should be responsible design.
Every year we conduct a full greenhouse gas inventory — tracking every tonne of CO₂ equivalent from the materials we source to the way our team travels. Here's what the FY2025 numbers tell us, and what we're doing about them.
Emissions by scope
Total emissions fell from 868 tCO₂e in FY2024 to 650 tCO₂e in FY2025 — a reduction of 25%. This was driven primarily by more sustainable procurement and reduced supply chain intensity. The work continues.
Where Scope 3 comes from
Top emission categories in purchased goods
Our Sustainability Strategy Pack sets out a sequenced, practical path from where we are today to Net Zero by 2035. Aligned with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS), and B Corp principles, these goals are built to hold us accountable.
Framework commitments
Submitting near-term 2030 targets (≥42% reduction in Scope 1 & 2) and a long-term Net Zero by 2035 pathway for SBTi validation. Progress will be embedded in annual reporting with third-party verification.
Full compliance with ASRS 1 & 2 climate-related financial disclosures, including scenario analysis, Scope 1, 2 and 3 reporting, and transparent methodology documentation.
B Corp certification is a long-term goal for MOS Urban — a standard we are actively building toward. The seven B Corp Impact Topics (fair work, justice and equity, human rights, climate action, environmental stewardship, circularity, and collective action) provide a meaningful framework that shapes how we think about our business today, even as formal certification remains a future milestone.
Key circular economy targets
Carbon neutrality has become one of the most visible sustainability claims in our industry. We understand its appeal — and we respect that many organisations have pursued it genuinely. But it's not the path we've chosen, and we think the methodology behind our decision is worth explaining clearly.
The offset model and its limits
Carbon neutrality is typically achieved by combining an emissions reduction strategy with the purchase of carbon credits — funding third-party projects that theoretically absorb or avoid an equivalent volume of emissions elsewhere. Many certification programmes that govern this process are genuinely rigorous, and we don't dismiss the intent behind them.
Our concern is with what the methodology doesn't change: the emissions a business is actually producing. Carbon credits create an accounting balance — they don't alter the physical reality that those emissions are entering the atmosphere. "Carbon neutral" describes a net position on paper, not a reduction in output. For us, that distinction matters.
There is also a practical consideration. Carbon credits represent an ongoing cost that needs to be absorbed somewhere in the business — and in a competitive tendering environment, that cost invariably flows through to project pricing. Genuine emission reductions, by contrast, build long-term efficiency into the business itself.
Our methodology
The only honest measure of progress is whether emissions are actually falling — year on year, in absolute terms.
What this looks like in practice
Where the market is heading
This is now reflected in government policy. In 2026, the Australian Government announced it will end the Climate Active certification programme — the country's only government-backed voluntary carbon neutral standard — with certification expected to cease on 30 June 2027. The official reasoning is that mandatory climate reporting requirements, now in force for large organisations under Australia's new disclosure framework, have superseded the need for a voluntary scheme.
This decision didn't come without warning. Participation in Climate Active had been declining for some time before the announcement, with organisations exiting the programme citing concerns over offset integrity and greenwashing risk. The government's decision reflects that broader loss of confidence.
For MOS Urban, this validates the position we've held from the outset: voluntary carbon neutrality certification was always a gap-filler, not a long-term standard. The future of credible climate accountability lies in mandatory, verifiable emissions reporting — which is exactly where our approach is already pointed.
A question worth asking any supplier
Are your total greenhouse gas emissions lower than they were last year? An annual GHG report answers that directly. A carbon neutrality certificate does not. We publish ours every year — and we'd encourage anyone procuring street furniture to make that the baseline expectation of every supplier they work with.
We recognise others in our industry — including some of our clients — have pursued carbon neutrality in good faith. We hold this view not as a critique of those choices, but as an honest articulation of what climate accountability means for us, and where we believe the industry needs to go.
Timber is one of the most consequential material choices in public furniture. Where it comes from, how it was processed, and how far it travelled all shape its environmental story. We've made a deliberate decision — and here's why it matters.
An emerging alternative worth watching
Bamboo is one of the most interesting materials in the sustainable design conversation — and increasingly, one worth taking seriously for public furniture. It isn't timber in the traditional sense, but it performs like one, and its environmental profile is genuinely compelling.
Our commitment
MOS Urban is progressively increasing the proportion of locally sourced, recycled, and FSC-certified timber in our product range. We're building relationships with Australian salvage timber suppliers and working to eliminate imported virgin hardwood from standard product specifications by 2028. Bamboo is an emerging material we're actively evaluating — where provenance can be verified and performance is proven, it represents a genuinely exciting addition to our sustainable materials toolkit. Every bench, seat, and table we produce is an opportunity to prove that beautiful, durable public furniture doesn't require extractive supply chains.
Aluminium is a core material in our product range — frames, brackets, profiles, and extrusions. The idea of "green aluminium" carries real environmental promise, and we believe it represents an important direction for the industry. But we also believe in being honest: right now, in the Australian market, truly green aluminium is not readily available, not clearly defined, and not cost-competitive for a business like ours. Here's what that actually means, and what we're doing about it.
Why the idea matters
Conventional aluminium smelting is one of the most electricity-intensive industrial processes in the world. Most primary aluminium produced globally — and the majority that enters Australia's supply chain — is smelted using coal-fired power, particularly from China, which accounts for around 60% of global production.
By contrast, aluminium smelted using renewable hydroelectric or wind power — as produced in parts of Norway, Iceland, and Canada — carries dramatically lower embodied carbon. Some certified low-carbon primary aluminium carries as little as 2–4 kg CO₂e per kg of metal, compared to 16–20 kg CO₂e per kg for coal-powered primary production.
Recycled (secondary) aluminium is even more compelling: it uses approximately 5% of the energy of primary smelting, with a corresponding reduction in emissions. For any manufacturer, maximising recycled content in aluminium inputs is one of the most impactful material choices available.
The carbon gap
Coal-smelted aluminium: ~18 kg CO₂e/kg
Renewable-smelted: ~3 kg CO₂e/kg
That's roughly an 83% reduction in embodied carbon for the same material. The potential is significant — but only where verified supply exists.
Our FY2025 baseline
Aluminium products contributed 3.5 tCO₂e to our Scope 3 footprint in FY2025 — a relatively modest share of our total, but one that will grow in importance as we reduce emissions elsewhere.
The practical reality in Australia
Limited availability
Certified low-carbon primary aluminium from renewable-energy smelters is not currently available through standard Australian distribution channels. Accessing it would require importing directly from offshore producers — adding cost, complexity, and ironically, freight emissions.
No clear definition
There is no regulated or universally accepted standard for what constitutes "green aluminium" in the Australian market. Claims vary widely between producers and distributors, and without independent verification, the term risks becoming greenwash rather than a meaningful environmental signal.
Cost premium
Where low-carbon aluminium can be sourced internationally, it carries a significant price premium over standard product — a cost that is difficult to absorb in a competitive public furniture market where projects are typically priced on tight margins through tender processes.
What we can do now — and what we're watching
The most practical and available lever is secondary aluminium — scrap-based alloys with verified high recycled content. We are working with our extrusion and fabrication suppliers to understand and increase the recycled content in our aluminium inputs, which can meaningfully reduce embodied carbon without offshore supply chain complexity.
Aluminium is infinitely recyclable — but only if it can be efficiently recovered at end of life. We design our aluminium-framed products for disassembly, using mechanical fasteners, standardised alloy grades, and material documentation so components can be cleanly sorted and re-entered into the recycling stream.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct requires environmental disclosure from key suppliers. For aluminium specifically, we are asking fabricators and distributors to provide data on energy sources and recycled content — creating a baseline that will allow us to make better sourcing decisions as the market matures.
The low-carbon aluminium market is evolving. Major producers including Rio Tinto (Canada) and Hydro (Norway) are expanding certified low-carbon product lines, and Australian industry bodies are beginning to engage with definition and standards questions. We are tracking these developments and will reassess viability as the supply chain matures.
A clear, independently verified Australian definition of low-carbon aluminium would benefit the entire construction and manufacturing sector. We support industry efforts to establish credible standards — because without them, "green aluminium" risks being a marketing claim rather than a measurable environmental outcome.
As verified low-carbon aluminium becomes more accessible in Australia — and as carbon pricing and procurement requirements create stronger market signals — transitioning our aluminium supply is a genuine medium-to-long-term goal. We'll pursue it when we can do so with integrity, not simply to make a claim.
Our position
We believe transparency is more valuable than optimism. Green aluminium represents a real and meaningful opportunity — but in the Australian market today, it is not a practical option we can adopt with confidence in the claims we would be making. Our focus in the near term is on maximising recycled content, designing for material recovery, and building the supplier relationships and data foundations that will allow us to move credibly when the market is ready. We won't use "green aluminium" as a label until we can back it up.