Independent premium snack brand Awfully Posh has re-launched its peanut range in a 100% recyclable wrapper made from paper, replacing conventional nut packaging which is made from hard to recycle polypropylene. 

The relaunched Awfully Posh peanuts will be available to the UK pub and bar market, with an initial launch planned in partnership with RedCat Hospitality – the operator behind the award-winning Coaching Inn Group and RedCat Independent Pubs. The newly packaged premium peanut snacks will roll out across all 95 of the group’s historic and characterful pubs and coaching inns in May 2025.

Developed by sustainable paper packaging manufacturer, EvoPak, the new paper wrapper (known as MRCM) uses the same award-winning environmentally friendly technology as the world’s first fully recyclable crisp packet. The packaging incorporates a layer of Hydropol™ which makes unrecyclable packaging fully recyclable because it is dissolvable and biodegradable. Its marine-safe, non-toxic polymer technology developed by Aquapak, which specializes in developing high performance, environmentally safe materials to reduce plastic pollution and improve recycling, breaks down harmlessly in all existing recycling streams. If it does escape into the environment, it biodegrades completely, leaving nothing behind such as harmful microplastics.

A planet-friendly alternative to conventional snack packaging

The new paper wrapper provides a functional and planet-friendly alternative to current snack and confectionery packaging which, over the past 30 years, has become complex with the development of lightweight multi-layer structures. This has driven efficiency and shelf life, but the complexity makes them impossible to deal with at end of life. This is compounded by consumer consumption, which is often on the move, making littering a bigger problem than other formats. The other factor is that small units using a complex combination of materials makes recycling and recovery options currently limited, resulting in landfill with no circularity option.

Currently, it is only possible to recycle conventional snack wrappers by returning them to store, which isn’t convenient for consumers and in many cases, where recycling processes aren’t carefully controlled, the wrapper still ends up in landfill or incinerated. This also presents significant challenges for large-scale hospitality operations who are seeking to increase the amount of waste packaging that goes into recycling streams.

OPRL certified as recyclable

The wrappers have been certified as recyclable in standard paper recycling mills by OPRL, the only evidence-based on pack recycling labeling scheme. This means they feature the green recycle logo and can be disposed of in consumer curbside collections along with other paper material, unlike other nut snack packets. 

Premium product protection

HydropolTM gives the paper a functional performance and also provides a high oxygen (OTR) barrier, enabling brands to switch to paper packaging.  To meet high moisture barriers needed to keep the nuts fresh in transit and on the shelf, HydropolTM is used in combination with Nissha metalized paper in order to give the moisture barrier required for this application.  

Tom Lock, Founder of Awfully Posh, commented: “It is fantastic to have an environmentally responsible packaging solution that protects the planet and our premium nuts. This paper innovation has the potential to transform snack packaging as we know it and we are proud to be one of the pioneering users of the new technology.”

Mark Lapping, Chief Executive Officer, Aquapak, said: “We have collaborated closely with Evopak in the development of this innovative new paper which can provide protection for the most challenging snacks – crisps and nuts – when it comes to keeping them fresh and in top condition.   Aquapak’s Hydropol™ technology combines the functionality of conventional plastics without the environmental consequences, making it a win-win for brands.”