Paris Packaging Week celebrates its quarter-century in 2026

The 25th edition of Paris Packaging Week will be held on February 5 and 6 with a packed program, notably devoted to the PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation), the European Union regulation aimed at reducing the environmental impact of packaging. With around 900 exhibitors, 150 references, and 14,000 visitors expected, it is set to break all previous records for the event.

On February 5 and 6, Paris Packaging Week will once again bring together professionals in the field of packaging and aerosols for luxury goods, beauty products, and premium beverages in Hall 1 (the largest) of Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.

The PPWR at the heart of Paris Packaging Week 2026

And for this 25th edition, accessible free of charge upon simple registration at parispackagingweek.com, the organizer, the Easyfairs group, announces an extremely rich program against a backdrop of decisive regulatory developments. The program includes approximately 900 exhibitors, including 155 newcomers—such as Gainerie Moderne (leather goods and high-end packaging), Carré d’Ébène (luxury tablets and boxes), Kurz (specialist in decorative finishes) and MCC France Ouest (cardboard and paper packaging) – and more than 150 conferences to enlighten “marketing, design, innovation, and development teams navigate the new European framework“ of the PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation), the European Union regulation adopted in 2024 aimed at reducing the environmental impact of packaging throughout its life cycle, and finally, ”a journey entirely guided by the requirements of the latter.”

“With the entry into force of the PPWR, the packaging industry is entering an era of responsibility and innovation,” emphasizes Christelle Anya, Director of Content and Community at Paris Packaging Week, which claims to be the world’s largest packaging event for the aerosol, cosmetics, luxury goods, and beverage industries. Designing recyclable or reusable packaging, incorporating recycled materials, eliminating excess packaging, and ensuring end-of-life transparency are becoming key requirements for 2030 and 2035 and are driving the rise of large-scale recycling. Paris Packaging Week 2026 is positioning itself as the must-attend event for anticipating these changes, sharing concrete solutions, and collectively building the packaging of tomorrow.

New for 2026

An essential innovation in this context, the Refill & Reuse Zone is a new section dedicated to refillable, reusable, and circular packaging, the result of a partnership with the New European Reuse Alliance (New ERA), the leading European association dedicated to the development of refillable and reusable solutions.

Among the conferences designed to help luxury professionals understand the drivers of PPWR, one session will feature a panel led by Fedrigoni, the Italian specialist in high-end papers, and Maison Chloé, entitled “Luxury Packaging, resolving the tension between creativity and impact.” Based on a study conducted with Bain and Company among 500 professionals, it will “analyze how premium brands manage to reconcile desirability and regulatory expectations in a context where material choices are becoming a strategic act.”

With his presentation “The essentials of PPWR for luxury brands,” Marco Scatto, Senior Advisor at the Italian Packaging Institute, will offer “a detailed analysis of the impact of PPWR on high-end design.” He will thus provide “tangible benchmarks for eco-design, selecting the right materials, and managing end-of-life in a world where consistency and perceived value remain essential.”

Several other sessions (“Navigating the European framework,” “Rethinking the material cycle for 2030,” “Reuse and recycling: what the PPWR really changes”) will provide a better understanding of this major regulatory change.

Joint celebration of the Awards

Another first for the 2026 edition, the Innovation Awards Party, an event organized the day before the opening of the show at the Pavillon Vendôme, Place Vendôme, will give even more visibility to the various Innovation Awards presented during Paris Packaging Week, namely the PCD Innovation Awards, the Packaging Première Innovation Awards, the ADF Innovation Awards, and the PLD Innovation Awards.

For the first time, these awards, which recognize the best packaging innovations in the beauty, premium and luxury beverage, and luxury sectors, will be celebrated together. This will do justice to the winners, whose creations have been selected by a jury of experts for their technical innovations, design excellence, user experience quality, or sustainability performance.

These different awards themselves reflect the segmented and tailor-made approach of the various trade shows that make up Paris Packaging Week: ADF for aerosol solutions and dispensing systems; PCD for the cosmetics and perfume sectors; PLD for premium and luxury beverages; Packaging Première for luxury products (fashion, watches and jewelry, fine foods, etc.); and finally, Pentawards Festival (packaging design and creative innovation).

This is the second edition of the latter, which brings together the global packaging design community with a rich offering of conferences and debates, content, immersive experiences, and networking opportunities, this year around the theme “Fuelled by Ideas.” Highlights likely to interest luxury professionals include “Emotion in packaging” and “Cultural codes and new visual narratives.”

Continuing innovations in 2025

Other initiatives, successfully launched last year, will return in 2026. The PCD Full-Service Zone (DEF IA), dedicated to luxury packaging, cosmetics, and perfumes, will welcome even more exhibitors this year.

Similarly, the Discovery Zone will once again showcase the latest innovations of the future, thanks to the presence of around twenty start-ups, new materials and products, and an immersion in emerging technologies (AI, smart packaging, etc.). Last comeback: the Trend Book – Perspectives 2026 explores, this year under the theme “Cool & Conscious,” the “strong and cross-cutting trend” of packaging that is both desirable and designed for the consumer and good for the environment.

In the world of premium beverages, two sequences will be of particular interest. Gordy Pleyer, professor at the University of Leuven and global coordinator of Mind Insights, will present the study “Traces of reuse in glass: what consumers really see,” which “analyzes how wear marks influence the perception of quality, premium character, and desirability of the product.”

Vitalie Taittinger will be there

Meanwhile, in her keynote speech entitled “Responsible innovation and brand identity,” Vitalie Taittinger, CEO of Champagne Taittinger, will share “an inspiring vision of the expertise, heritage, and sensory experience that remain at the heart of packaging as a brand territory.”

Among the other key conferences in the luxury sector, the one entitled “Coalition Consigne Cosmétique” will be of particular interest to players in the beauty industry. It will present the exclusive results (actual data on collection, logistics, and usage, etc.) of two years of full-scale experimentation conducted by the teams at Chanel Parfums Beauté, La Rosée, Diptyque, and Yves Rocher.

14,000 visitors expected

Also in the beauty sector, during the session entitled “Extending the life of cosmetic products,” experts from NVC, Keune Haircosmetics, MEA Design, Politecnico di Milano, and The Hague University of Applied Science will discuss hair science, design ethics, fibrous materials, and the use of AI in the selection of formulations and materials.

With around 14,000 trade visitors expected from around the world, the 2026 edition, one of the largest ever organized in Europe, is set to celebrate its quarter-century in style.