The initiative helps schools make sure that edible school lunches that would otherwise be discarded are instead redistributed to benefit local communities. Olio helps schools get a handle on food waste by pairing them with a food-safety trained volunteer called Food Waste Heroes.
Those volunteers collect surplus food, take it home, and upload it to Olio’s app, for anyone living locally to request and collect. Olio currently has 130,000 people signed up as volunteers.
The Department for Education (DfE) has advised that all schools should have a climate action plan and a designated sustainability lead in place by September 2025. Food waste is playing a key part in that for many schools.
So far Olio has achieved:
- 74,215 kg of food donated (the same weight as six standard school buses)
- 233,152 food items saved from the bin (enough to feed the entire population of Oxford one meal)
- 287,115 kg of CO₂ emissions avoided (the same annual carbon absorption of a 30-acre forest)
- 49,892 litres of water saved (enough to fill 623 standard sized bath tubs)
- Equivalent to taking 1,000,724 car miles off the road (or cancelling out 200,000 school runs)
Saasha Celestial-One, chief operating officer and co-founder at Olio, said: “It’s been impressive to see so many schools and their caterers committing to taking action against food waste.
“With Olio, schools can reduce carbon emissions in line with the latest DfE guidance, teach students valuable lessons about sustainability, and provide even more support to the local community. We’re hoping many more will join us this Food Waste Action Week (17-23rd March).”
As well as impacting carbon emissions, Olio also helps schools do more for parents and children living locally.
Lisa Maguire, operation services manager at E-ACT, a trust of 38 academies, added: “To be able to make such a positive difference to the 'hidden hungry' within the current crisis of food deprivation, is an absolute gift.”
Schools interested in joining Olio's food waste reduction program can visit: www.olioapp.com/business.