On 17 September 2026, PET Pack CEE Forum 2026 will take place in Budapest, a one-day B2B event organised by Petcore Europe and KÖR. The meeting will focus on PET packaging issues in Central and Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on food contact, regulatory compliance and the impact of new legislation on the competitiveness of companies. The event will be preceded by a networking dinner scheduled for the evening of 16 September. As the organisers emphasise, changes resulting from new European packaging regulations, including PPWR, requirements for food contact materials, rPET certification and digital traceability, affect the entire PET value chain. This means that their impact will be felt not only by packaging manufacturers, but also by converters, recyclers, brand owners, importers and distributors placing packaged products on the European Union market.
Event programme
The morning part of the programme is to focus on regulations and market realities in the CEE region. A keynote speech by a representative of DG GROW, the European Commission, has been announced, as well as presentations by specialists from the region. These are to include the president of the National Chamber of Commerce Bottling Industry and the managing director of Resilux CEE, who will present the changes taking place at the operational level.
The technical part of the programme will address practical requirements for food contact materials. This scope includes testing, NIAS risk and rPET certification.
The afternoon part of the forum is to be devoted to projects affecting market access. The programme lists chemical recycling, digital traceability, new customs codes for rPET and the building of compliance infrastructure. At the end of the day, company case studies are planned, covering real challenges, decisions taken and results achieved.
Networking and registration
The organisers announce five networking moments during the event. One of them is to be a lunch organised around themed discussion tables dedicated to such topics as PPWR, rPET certification, digital traceability and NIAS. An additional element of the programme will be a networking dinner at a restaurant on the Danube on the evening of 16 September.
Detailed programme information and registration are available at: https://event.kor-group.com/roadshow2026
The forum announcement also highlights the importance of the Polish market. As stated, Poland is one of the key PET markets in the Central and Eastern Europe region and plays an important role in shaping European standards of compliance and circularity.
