Across regulation, testing and circularity, one challenge connected the discussions in Budapest: how to turn requirements into evidence and decisions that work across the PET value chain.
Organised by KÖR and PETCORE EUROPE on 17 September, PET Pack CEE Forum 2026 brought together regulatory, industry and technical perspectives on food-contact compliance, recycled PET, PPWR implementation and circularity in Central and Eastern Europe.
Rather than one single compliance challenge, three practical priorities emerged.
For PET companies, understanding the regulation is only the starting point. The harder questions increasingly concern implementation: what needs to change, what evidence will be required and where are the remaining uncertainties?
The Forum highlighted this particularly in relation to PPWR. Alongside requirements affecting recyclability, recycled content and food-contact packaging, industry still faces practical questions around areas such as recycled-content methodology, PFAS testing and traceability.
This means that sourcing, recycled content, packaging design and food-contact compliance cannot always be considered separately. Decisions made in one area can change the evidence needed in another.
NIAS, PFAS and migration testing featured in the technical discussions, but the broader message was not simply that more testing is needed.
A useful testing strategy starts with the decision the result needs to support.
What is being assessed? Which material and application are involved? What can the chosen analysis demonstrate, and where might further assessment be necessary?
That distinction matters because having a laboratory report is not automatically the same as having evidence that answers the relevant compliance question.
For companies, the practical priority is therefore to connect testing to the material, intended use and regulatory decision from the outset, rather than treating analysis as a standalone compliance step.
The Forum also connected testing with a wider challenge: what happens to the evidence once it has been generated?
Traceability, comparable results and structured compliance data make it easier to understand what has been tested, what the evidence covers and where gaps remain. This becomes particularly important across a value chain involving material suppliers, recyclers, converters, laboratories and brand owners.
KÖR’s framework presented at the Forum similarly connected technical expertise and laboratory testing with structured, comparable data that can ultimately support better decisions.
The objective is therefore not simply to accumulate more reports. It is to build evidence that can still be understood and used when the next compliance decision needs to be made.
PET Pack CEE Forum covered a broad range of topics, from regulation and food-contact testing to recyclability, recycled content and analytical harmonisation. Each deserves deeper treatment.
The common thread, however, was clear: the next challenge for the PET value chain is not only understanding new requirements, but translating them into appropriate testing, usable evidence and practical decisions.
For companies, that starts with identifying which requirements affect their products, understanding what their existing evidence actually supports and focusing further work where genuine gaps remain.
Need a clearer basis for your food-contact testing decisions? Contact KÖR to discuss your materials, applications and testing needs.
