OLIO sustainability score: 35/100
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Olio is a UK-based food-sharing and surplus redistribution platform founded in 2015. Users and retailers share unsold food and household items via the app; volunteers collect from partner retailers like Tesco.
More about OLIO
Revenue of £4.05M (FY 2025/26) derives mainly from the Food Waste Heroes service. Certified B Corp since 2022.
Founded 2015Head office London, GBStaff ~55 (2026)Revenue £4.05M turnover (FY ended 28 Feb 2026)Website ↗
Olio is a food-sharing app with unmeasured operational emissions and no quantified reduction targets. It claims to be carbon negative, but the claim rests on avoided emissions from food redistribution, not on removals. It publishes impact metrics, but no Scope 1, 2 or 3 figures.
OLIO scores 35/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified November 2026.
That places OLIO joint 572nd of 1,023 companies scored, and 3rd of 5 in Waste & Recycling.
What is OLIO doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Resource Use & Waste (7/10, 6/10). Weakest on Targets & Commitments and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (1/10, 2/10).
Where OLIO lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its climate targetsSet emissions reduction targets.
- Emissions from its supply chainAssess where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- How clean its energy isMove to a renewable energy tariff or make a major efficiency investment.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations3/10No emissions figures for its own operations, not even an estimate from energy bills.
- Emissions from its supply chain2/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- Whether its emissions are falling3/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is2/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water3/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets1/10No emissions reduction targets.
- How openly it reports5/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
- Its record on controversies7/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is OLIO's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas OLIO's score changed?
OLIO's score has moved from 48 to 35 across 4 recorded reviews, down 13 points.
- 35 → 358 November 2026
Source added, 8 November 2026: the company's filed accounts, quoted for its staff numbers and turnover. They confirm it is a small company, so the size rule is unchanged. Score unchanged.
- 35 → 357 November 2026
Correction, 7 November 2026: removed an unsourced emissions figure. Score unchanged.
- 48 → 35-136 November 2026
Re-scored under the current method. Sector moved from SaaS / Digital Services to Waste & Recycling by majority revenue: 89% is its surplus-food collection service (owner ruling 2026-11-06). That lowers the base from 70 to 35. It publishes no emissions figures of its own.. Sector corrected "SaaS / Digital Services" (base 70) → "Waste & Recycling" (base 35), sourced from ANNUAL-REPORT Waste & Recycling 89% of revenue (p.Strategic report, Principal activities; 89% of revenue is the Food Waste Heroes surplus-food collection service); owner 2026-11-06: Waste & Recycling (89% collection service)); alternative: SaaS / Digital Services (current sector)
- Scored 485 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is OLIO's score based on?
10 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
10% of them were published by OLIO itself; the rest come from independent sources.
“Tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided (annual)”
“Our operational carbon footprint represents only ~5% of the emissions we prevent through Olio’s waste-reduction activities.”
“Air & Climate 1.5”
“measured the benefits of sharing food using three environmental indicators: global warming, the depletion of water sources, and land use”
“The volunteers then take it back to their homes and list items on the Olio app”
“placing them in competition with users of the Olio food waste app, which can include well-off families”
“Tesco should give food donations to charities not Olio, and allow morning pick ups”
“a network of 130,000 volunteers called Food Waste Heroes”
“For the general population, 68% of the benefit was offset in the global warming category”
“The average monthly number of employees, including directors, for FY 2025/26 was 55 (FY 2024/25: 69). … Turnover 4 4,049,289 3,598,675”
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How does OLIO compare with other waste & recycling companies?
Where OLIO sits among waste & recycling peers.
Among the 5 major waste & recycling brands we've scored, OLIO sits 3rd of 5.
Who scores higher in Waste & Recycling?
The 2 companies in the sector scoring nearest above OLIO.
Biffa operates UK waste infrastructure but remains carbon-heavy: its Scope 1 and 2 were flat in the latest year at about 509,000 tonnes, mostly landfill gas.
See the breakdown →Veolia UK's absolute emissions are rising despite green tariffs and landfill gas capture.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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