Known as “food waste heroes”, the 18,000 volunteers on the app successfully managed to collect 131 tonnes of surplus food from Tesco Ireland, which was then redistributed across the country.

The app works by allowing the volunteers to pick up the food which has been unsold but is still edible and then list it on the app to allow others in the community to collect and consume it according to breakingnews.ie.

Olio co-founder Tessa Clarke said: “As we enter a time where food waste is often at its highest, it is great to see such an active community of people joining together to fight waste while helping out their neighbours.

“Our partnership with Tesco Ireland has resulted in a massive 656,000 items of food being diverted from waste in just over a year.

“Food waste accounts for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions and is the single largest emitting sector. If we are to fix the climate crisis, preventing food waste should be a priority.”