It is unquestionable that the food industry is one of the fundamental pillars of the Spanish economy . In this sense, the recent pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV 2 virus has highlighted the robustness of this industry, being one of the sectors most valued by consumers. However, the agri-food sector should face in the near future a series of new challenges leading to the transformation of certain aspects of the food chain; in particular, those linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda. In this sense, one of the great challenges that the sector must face is that linked to the circular economy. According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 30% of the food produced worldwide is wasted, of which approximately half correspond to products discarded in the processing phase. postharvest or retail. In this sense, the production and logistics systems must be redesigned from a sustainable approach, as well as a social one , in such a way that they promote a more efficient use of the raw materials produced, enabling, ultimately, alternative distribution channels that allow the use of these products. On the other hand, it must be remembered that the processing of food throughout the agri-food system gives rise to the generation of an equally important volume of by-products, such as those generated in the wine, olive, dairy, or fruit and vegetable sectors, to name only some of the sectors that have the greatest impact on our country. In recent decades, numerous R&amp;D&amp;I studies have revealed the high potential that these residues have as a source of compounds with healthy and/or techno-functional properties such as phenolic compounds, non-digestible carbohydrates, peptides, etc. In order to take advantage of these by-products as a source of compounds with high added value, it would be necessary to take into account the postulates of sustainable chemistry, which implies the use of extraction techniques that allow a more effective obtaining of the compounds of interest, more efficient from an energy point of view or in less time, together with the use of environmentally friendly solvents. Thus, currently some companies in the sector are already betting on the use of ultrasound-assisted extraction using water and/or ethanol as the extraction solvent or extraction with supercritical CO2, to give just two examples, for the recovery of by-products from the agri-food industry in ingredients with high added value. On the other hand, the sector must work hard to respond to the problems generated by the use of plastic or multilayer packaging, which has generated not only an important environmental problem that is difficult to solve, but also health , with the generation of microplastics that may be interfering with our endocrine system. In this sense, the food industry is already betting on biodegradable packaging with the inclusion of enzymes that degrade the packaging material once removed from the chain, the use of bioplastics based on polyhydroxyalkanoates obtained by microbial fermentation from fatty acids, or the generation of new polymers from by-products of the dairy, sugar or cereal sector, among others. Another of the challenges related to the SDGs that the sector must address is the search for new protein sources as substitutes for animal protein . One of the reasons driving this search is the population growth forecast for the coming decades, which makes the current protein consumption system of the Spanish consumer, based largely on animal sources, unsustainable. However, he is not the only one. If we look at the food consumption data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food we see how in recent years there has been a growing trend to consume products of plant origin as a source of protein. In this way, the development of new foods formulated from protein of fungal origin (mycoprotein), legumes, cereals, or insects, presents itself as an opportunity to explore and exploit as more sustainable sources of protein. Undoubtedly, all these approaches will be of great help to the sector in order to comply with the new state legislative framework, specifically Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy, as well as the new regulation that is being processed on packaging and packaging waste that is expected to come out throughout the year 2022. Also, the food industry should do more to increase consumer confidence in the sector . In this sense, holding open days would reinforce the dissemination work that is currently being carried out through different audiovisual channels. To this could be added the generation of smart labels that provide information on the origin and the process of making the product, among other possible initiatives. <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-align: right; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Futura PT'; color: #44b9c9;"> <a href="https://www.cial.uam-csic.es/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.cial.uam-csic.es</a>

The agri-food sector is facing “new challenges” in the short term, according to the CIAL (CSIC-UAM), “leading to the transformation of certain aspects of the food chain; in particular, those linked to the SDGs.” In this sense, the article describes aspects as noteworthy as ";the high potential of waste as a source of compounds with healthy properties";, ";the problems generated by plastic and multilayer packaging"; and the search for ";new sources of protein as substitutes for animal protein”

"One of the great challenges that the sector must face is that linked to the circular economy"

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