Case Study (BERST Region): Biobase Westland

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

8/15/2015

Project acronym: BERST Project full title: "BioEconomy Regional Strategy Toolkit " Grant agreement no: 613671

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

Contents 1. Introduction ...... 2 1.1 Bioeconomy clusters ...... 3 1.2 Key assets and development paths of bioeconomy clusters ...... 3 1.3 Bioeconomy clusters in BERST project ...... 5 2. BioBase Westland (the Netherlands) ...... 6 2.1 Executive summary ...... 6 2.2 Introduction ...... 7 2.3 Environmental and socio-economic indicators of the region and clusters ...... 9 2.4 Analysis of the development path of the biocluster ...... 12 2.5 Concluding remarks and lessons for other regions ...... 22 2.6 References/ Links ...... 26

1. Introduction

The BERST project explains the bioeconomy development path of a) BERST regions and b) selected Good Practices. Aim is to provide a practical guide and source of inspiration for other regions that wish to develop their bioeconomy potential. Under this analysis: - BERST regions are structured narratives for development pathways of clusters in different bioeconomy sectors in the regions of partners in the BERST project; - Good Practices are examples of regions that contain one or more successful bioeconomy clusters at the mature production stage.

Especially, Good Practices have been analysed in order to: - understand how the various key assets interacted and performed during the development stages; - draw a number of lessons for the development of bioeconomy clusters within their respective regions; and - provide recommendations to other regions and clusters for each key asset and each bioeconomy sector on which issues they have to take into account in order to establish, develop and successfully operate similar clusters.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

1.1 Bioeconomy clusters The bioeconomy can be described in terms of an economy that ‘encompasses the production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy. In BERST, a bioeconomy cluster is perceived as a geographical concentration of actors in vertical and horizontal relationships aiming to develop the bioeconomy. Bioeconomy clusters have been categorised to allow comparison and better understand synergies and interactions of the various elements involved in the formation of bioregions. BERST recognises eight bioeconomy sectors, namely: - primary biomass; - food and feed; - construction; - chemicals and polymers; - pulp and paper; - textile and clothing; - energy; - R&D biotechnology.

Given the broad coverage of sectors within the bioeconomy, bioeconomy clusters might be rather heterogeneous in their specific focus. The development and marketing of bioeconomy products does not differ from other products: the challenge is to introduce competitive bioeconomy products that can be sold in profitable quantities on the basis of its price, quality, and service combination preferred by buyers over that offered by competing products. This implies that in the analysis of the development of the bioeconomy clusters the same three factors play a role as in the case of clusters aiming at the introduction and marketing of televisions or cars: input-output linkages among firms, social capital and institutional thickness.

1.2 Key assets and development paths of bioeconomy clusters The input-output linkages among firms, social capital and institutional thickness in the cluster are all embodied by actors with varying properties. In the analysis of the development path of a bioeconomy cluster, we assume that the actors of the region, in which the cluster is located, apply a strategy to develop the bioeconomy by transforming biomass into competitive bioeconomy products. Such a transformation process takes time. Hence, our analysis is guided by two starting points:

1. a focus on five key assets of a bioeconomy cluster, as outlined in our conceptual model for the analysis of the strategy of a bioeconomy cluster (Fig. 1). These are: a. entrepreneurs: the presence of an entrepreneurial culture with active, innovative, flexible and risk taking entrepreneurs plays a pivotal role in driving clusters towards successful development;

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

b. policymakers: political leaders who are willing to support the development of the bioeconomy by providing governance, institutional structures and financial support; c. knowledge institutes: organizations that provide the technical knowhow and innovation for the development of bioeconomy products; d. availability of biomass resources: a continuous supply of biomass resources of constant quality is critical for the development of bioeconomy products; e. competitive bioeconomy products: commercially viable products, such as chemicals, medicines, food, bioplastics, transport fuels, electricity and heat. 2. a long run time horizon of a bioeconomy cluster, with 3 phases (Fig. 2): a. initial stage and take off: the bioeconomy is introduced in the regional planning agenda and the policy, socio-economic and R&D landscape for its establishment and operation is created; b. drive to maturity: he first competitive bioeconomy products are sold at the market. The cluster grows with the setup of new companies, cluster infrastructure (with incubator, training centre etc.) has been established, and the cluster is able to attract both private and public funding c. age of mature production: the cluster is able to produce competitive bioeconomy products at an extensive scale.

The exact duration of each of these phases differs from cluster to cluster; according to estimates of PwC (2011) the duration of the initial stage and take off is about 5 years, that of the drive to maturity 5-10 years, and that of the age of mature production 10-20 years.

Figure 1 Conceptual model for the analysis of the strategy of a bioeconomy cluster

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

Figure 2 The development path of a bioeconomy cluster

1.3 Bioeconomy clusters in BERST project The bioeconomy clusters that are analysed in BERST are distinguished in ‘Good Practices’, i.e. bioeconomy clusters within the age of mature production, and ‘BERST regions’, i.e. bioeconomy clusters in the regions of partners in the BERST project (Table 1).

Table 1 Studied bioeconomy clusters in BERST Good Practices BERST regions Ghent (Belgium) Central Finland (Finland) North Rhine Westfalia (Germany) Straubing (Germany) Toulouse (France) Biobase Westland (Netherlands) Manchester (UK) Biobased Delta (Netherlands) Madrid region (Spain) Western Macedonia (Greece) Slovenia

The bioeconomy clusters in the BERST regions are in varying stages of development, and some of them can also be regarded as Good Practices (Central Finland, lower Bavaria, Biobase Westland and Biobased Delta). Statistical data, literature and interviews with key actors have been used to collect information on the functioning of each bioeconomy cluster. The analyses of the bioeconomy clusters of the Good Practices have provided a number of key findings on the interaction of actors in the cluster. Subsequently, in the analysis of the BERST regions it has been explored to which extent the key findings of the Good Practices also apply for these bioeconomy clusters and which barriers they face in developing the bioeconomy cluster. The analysis in BERST focuses primarily on the Good Practice mature bioeconomy sectors within the study countries, but as the clusters encompass more than one sector, the performance and interactions of key assets is expected to influence them as well.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

2. BioBase Westland (the Netherlands) Authors: Arie van der Bent (Wageningen UR), Judith Zuiderwijk-Groenewegen and Jan Smits (Gemeente Westland) and Calliope Panoutsou (Imperial)

Place and date: Wageningen,‘s-Gravenzande and London, June 2015

2.1 Executive summary The Westland area in South Holland is the location of an internationally recognised horticulture industry. Its location on the coast provides favourable climate conditions year-round, including relatively high light intensity. In addition, the region lies between several Dutch cities and towns and has good transport connections, including road and air. Westland is a prosperous and innovative area, in part due to fast-growing agribusiness. In the greenhouse cluster, there is extensive cooperation through the value chain, including suppliers, producers, traders and knowledge institutes. Total annual turnover in the region is approximately two billion euros.

The Municipality of Westland had the initiative to start a biobased cluster in 2013. The main driver was the presence of a large area of greenhouses (approximately 3.000 ha) with vegetables, flowers and plants and the concept was to use residue materials such as stems, leaves and class 3 products. Key recommendations were drawn from the interviews and categorised as follows.

Organisation:

 Do not make it complex but start partnerships with strong innovative companies or parties and focus on smart portfolio of projects.

Actors:

 Mid- and long-term commitment and a shared vision is essential, as well as good communication.

Biomass supply:

 Concentrate supplies on a biobase valorisation facility where in cascade useful components are extracted. Start with an almost economic feasible business case and develop additional value by extracting more components.

Competitive biobased products:

 Focus on market demand for functionality and strong preference for natural products.

Funding:

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 Involve industrial or private partners and support them with governmental subsidies.

Policy and measures:

 Arrange a portfolio of policy measures including knowledge, finances, communication, matchmaking events, licences and an entrepreneurs’ platform.

2.2 Introduction The work presented here provides a structured narrative for the development of the biocluster in Westland, which may serve as a practical guidance and source of inspiration for other regions that are willing to develop their bioeconomy potential. It is based on analysis of statistical data, literature and interviews with key actors involved in the development of bioeconomy and the biocluster in the region.

The report is structured in three main chapters. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the socio-economic and environmental situation in the region. Chapter 3 translates the findings from literature review, stakeholder interviews and consultations with regional partners in a narrative that follows the two main dimensions of the analysis conducted in BERST; i.e key assets and long time horizon. Finally, chapter 4 provides concluding remarks, lessons learnt, opportunities, barriers and recommendations.

The Westland Cluster has been categorised into sectors in order to allow comparison and better understand synergies and interactions of the various elements involved in the formation of bioregions. The BERST project recognises eight bioeconomy sectors, agreed with regional partners and interviewees, namely: primary biomass; food; construction; chemicals and polymers; pulp and paper; textile and clothing; energy; R&D services.

Two research dimensions have been used to analyse the development of the bioeconomy sectors within the bioclusters in the study regions, as follows:

1. Clusters’ key assets and their interaction

2. Time horizon and stages of development

Clusters’ key assets and their interaction

Clusters can be considered forms of network structures. A cluster is characterised by multiple, networked groups or teams who seek to accomplish organizational objectives. Team-based organizations offer much by way of flexibility while projects can be approached on a planned or ad hoc basis.

The actors in a cluster are thus a key asset. Several groups play a key role, as follows:

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

• Entrepreneurs. The presence of entrepreneurial culture plays a pivotal role in driving clusters towards successful development. Clusters usually leverage on the presence and active participation of various individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit who are flexible, risk-takers and willing to try new ideas. The level of entrepreneurial culture can therefore be seen as a critical success factor whereas low levels of entrepreneurship would be a cause for concern (PWC, 2011).

• Policymakers. Political leaders who are willing to support the development of the bioeconomy, providing governance, institutional structures and financial support.

• Knowledge institutes. Organisations that provide technical know-how and innovation for the development of bio-products.

Other assets involved in clusters are:

 Biomass supply: Consistent provision of biomass resources is critical. The analysis of case studies and best practices in BERST project includes both indigenous raw material streams and imports (if applicable) and elaborates on the advantages and disadvantages of each option to the cluster development pathway.

 Competitive bioeconomy products: commercially viable products such as fine chemicals, medicines, food, chemicals, bioplastics, transport fuels, electricity and heat.

 Funding: consistent funding both from public and private sources, new funding resources and attractive funding mechanisms for the entrepreneurs and investors.

 Policies and measures: legislative and policy framework conditions affecting the introduction of products made from biomass including measures relating to legislation, policies, standards, labels, certification and public procurement.

Time horizon and stages of development

Biocluster development passes through three main stages, typically taking 10- 15 years to reach maturity. The challenges at the initiation of the biocluster differ from that during a mature stage. Hence it makes sense to distinguish the phases in the development path of the biocluster. This dimension forms the basis for the second starting point in the analysis within BERST.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

It takes considerable time from the launch of a bioeconomy cluster to the time by which a mature cluster is in place. In the analysis of the development path in BESRT project, we distinguish three phases1:

• Initial stage and take off (IS): Introducing the bioeconomy in the regional planning agenda and creating the policy, socio-economic and R&D landscape for its establishment and operation.

• Drive to maturity (DMS): The first competitive bioeconomy products are sold at the market. The cluster grows with the setup of new companies, cluster infrastructure (incubator, training centre etc.) has been established, and the cluster is able to attract both private and public funding.

• Age of mature production (MS): The cluster is able to produce competitive bioeconomy products at an extensive scale.

The duration of each of these stages differs from region to region; according to estimates of PwC (2011)2 the duration of the initial stage and take off is about 5 years, that of the drive to maturity 5-10 years and that of the age of mature production 10-20 years. Within each stage, we analyse the interaction of the key assets, as given in our conceptual model. It is notable that clusters studies were considered to be either in initial stage or in the drive to maturity stage. No clusters were considered to be fully mature although, in some regions, elements of clusters had reached mature state of development (link to chapter from the main report).

2.3 Environmental and socio-economic indicators of the region and clusters The region

1 Inspired by Rostow’s stages of growth. 2 PriceWaterhouseCoopers (2011), Regional Biotechnology: Establishing a methodology and performance indicators for assessing bioclusters and bioregions relevant to the KBBE area; Brussels; via website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/regional-biotech-report.pdf

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

Figure 2.1 Map of Westland region

Westland is a region of the Netherlands and lies in the western part of the Province of South Holland. It consists of the municipalities of Westland and Midden-Delfland, and also of the town of Hook of Holland (which is a part of the municipality of Rotterdam). Tables 2.1 and 2.2 provide overview data on population and employment

Table 2.1 Basic facts about population in Westland NUTS-3 region Delft European countries en Westland (Nuts0) Netherlands Population [inhabitants] 220046 16779600 Population Growth [% annual growth] 0.42 0.36 land area (1000 km2) [1000 km2] 0.164 41.543 Population Density [percentage] 1341.7 403.9 Population <15 year [percentage] 15.5 17.2 Population 15-65 years [percentage] 68.9 66 Population >65 years [percentage] 15.6 16.8

The Westland area is known for its horticulture. Its location on the coast leads to a favourable climate conditions year-round, including relatively high light density which is beneficial for horticulture. In addition, the region lies between several Dutch cities and towns and has good transport connections, including road and air. Westland is a prosperous and innovative area, due to fast-growing developments in the field of agribusiness. In the greenhouse cluster, there is extensive cooperation between supplying companies, production, trade and knowledge institutes. Total annual turnover in the region is approximately two billion euros .

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

The region has identified five focus economic activities around which the capabilities, target markets and strategic development priorities are shaped, bioeconomy, digital economy and knowledge based economy.

Table 2.2 Environmental and socio-economic indicators of Westland NUTS-3 European region Delft countries en Westland (Nuts0) Netherlands Total employment [employees] 113908 8017144 Agricultural employment as % in total employment 9.4 2.3 [percentage] Industrial employment as % in total employment 7.2 10 [percentage] Service employment as % in total employment [percentage] 83.4 87.7 GDP [mio_euro] 8212 599047 GDP (PPP; EU=100) [index (EU=100)] 128 129 GDP in chemical sector as % of regional GDP (est) [% in GVA] 0.3 1.2 GDP in energy sector as % of regional GDP (est) [% in GVA] 1.5 0.5 R&D expenditure [index (EU=1)] 0.476 0.675 % primary education [percentage] 24.6 24.2 % Secundary & Tertiary education [percentage] 75.4 75.8

Table 2.3 Focus economic activities for South Netherlands (source: S3Platform)3 Description Capabilities Target Markets EU Priorities Organic aromatics 1. Manufacturing 1. Energy production 1. Sustainable & industry & distribution innovation 2. Chemicals & 2. Power 2. Sustainable chemical products generation/renewable energy & sources renewables Promoting linkages 1. Services 1. Manufacturing & 1. Specific local between research and 2. Scientific industry policy priority development centres and research & diverse sectoral clusters, development promoting implementation of newly developed innovations Research centre for food 1. Services 1. Human health & 1. Public health & and health 2. Scientific social work activities security research & 2. Food security & development safety

3 http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/regions/nl4 11

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

Supply chain innovation 1. Transporting & 1. Manufacturing & 1. Service storage industry innovation 2. Warehousing & 2. New or improved support activities organisational for transportation models (logistics storage) Cluster development, 1. Services 1. Manufacturing & 1. Service linkages between private 2. Education industry innovation sector and educational 2. New or improved research facilities organisational models

The cluster of Westland

The initiative to start a biobased cluster was undertaken by the Municipality of Westland in 2013. The main driver was the presence of a large area (approximately 3.000 ha) of greenhouses with vegetables, flowers and plants and the concept was to use residue materials such as stems,leaves and class 3 products.

Table 2.4 Employment and firms dynamics in bioeconomy sectors in Westland, 2004-2013 Employment Firms Micro- firms 2004 2013 2004 2013 2004 2013 Agriculture regional 12,097 10,698 2,080 1,310 0 1194 Agriculture national 215,015 186,186 71,199 64,235 0 62374 % of national 6 6 3 2 2 Energy regional 1895 1678 8 8 0 6 Energy national 33929 37491 586 744 0 947 % of national 6 4 1 1 1 Pulp & paper 653 557 68 59 0 49 regional Pulp & paper 76628 61090 7291 6882 0 5778 national % of national 1 1 1 1 1 Construction 7,482 6,627 2,040 1,993 0 1,881 regional Construction 465,242 397,251 116,739 121,003 0 115,452 national % of national 2 2 2 2 2 Chemicals regional 366 393 14 16 0 13 Chemicals national 100905 94287 2397 2319 0 1947 % of national 0 0 1 1 1 Total regional 120527 113908 15744 15219 0 16,240 Total national 8163638 8017144 1147170 1286261 0 1,150,510

2.4 Analysis of the development path of the biocluster This chapter translates the findings from literature review, stakeholder interviews and consultations with regional partners in a narrative that follows the two main 12

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland dimensions of the analysis conducted in BERST i.e. key assets and long time horizon. The work presented here provides comparative analysis of the key assets, their performance and rationale as well as their evolution and interactions across the development stages of the cluster. The outputs from this analysis facilitate the development of recommendations i) for the cluster’s successful transition to the next stage and ii) for other clusters with similar characteristics in terms of sectors and assets.

Lines of demarcation

Before the key assets for Bio Base Westland are discussed, it is important to exactly specify which (sub) sectors are covered and why.

Bio Base Westland builds upon the strength of mature regional sectors, to develop new, explicitly biobased, economic activities that are therefore generally still in the initial stage. The biobased economy is a subset of the total bioeconomy and does not include the food sector. (I) This case study exclusively covers biobased economy sectors.

One opportunity for the region is that a high volume of biomass is already produced locally, mostly from agricultural activity. There is also the opportunity to import biomass from nearby sea ports. Sectors downstream in the value chain are selected on the basis of the anticipated economic activity boost from the processing of this biomass. In many cases, this involves a gradual shift from the currently used fossil feedstock to biomass in sectors that are already important in the region. Another opportunity is the production of special plants dedicated to produce plant extracts and plant compounds for high end markets such as pharmaceuticals.

(II) The seven specific sectors that are included are:

- the primary biomass sector - paper and cardboard - building materials - biofuels & bioenergy - pharmaceutical purposes - cosmetics - green pesticides - food additives such as aroma compounds, vegetal E-numbers, colourants

The last four of them are grouped in the chemicals & polymers bioeconomy sector for the BERST analysis.

Replacement of fossil feedstock by biomass is a transition that is generally accepted to take decades to reach significant scale. This introduces a potential definition problem when describing assets and rating the degree of maturity of the sectors downstream in the value chain. The sectors are mature already, but their transition to biobased sectors is in its initial stage.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

We distinguish two biobased subsectors that differ strongly in their maturity:

A. The mature primary biomass subsector. This ‘traditional’ sector mainly concentrates on producing food and flowers, but also produces large waste streams that can be valorised in the biobased economy.

B. The initial stage primary biomass subsector. This consists of three areas: Specific crops for natural fibres Specific crops for high value ingredients

Summarizing:

(IV) Combining I and II, only the part of the primary biomass sector that provides biomass for the biobased economy is covered. This part is split in two subsectors

 A mature subsector* (P1), of which only the waste stream output is relevant and covered in this study;

 An initial stage subsector (P2), which specifically produces biomass for the biobased economy.

A final issue that needs to be addressed is the assignment of biorefinery activities to one or more of the above subsectors. As a process, biorefinery is the splitting of (generally complex) biomass in fractions that can be individually used in any of the subsectors downstream from primary production (food, feed, chemicals, energy, etc). It generally consists of multiple individual steps, that could in principle take place in each of the mentioned subsectors. Biorefinery activities may dramatically increase the value of the processed biomass stream, depending on the isolated compounds and their purity. It is therefore a great opportunity for new economic activity as well. Without major innovations in biorefinery, the biobased economy (‘new bioeconomy’) on which Bio Base Westland concentrates cannot be realized in full. As it takes place at the interface between sectors, it is a matter of definition to which subsector biorefinery is assigned.

(V) In this case study, biorefinery is considered to be (an implicit) part of the individual downstream subsectors that use the separated fractions as input.

NB: There are exceptions, but these are made explicit where appropriate.

Table 3.1 presents the performance of the various bioeconomy sectors which are present in the cluster across the key assets, during the initial (IS) and the drive to maturity stage (DMS), based on the results from the questionnaire survey. Details on how the individual key assets performed across the two development stages are provided in the following sections alongside with barriers and enabling factors which have framed their progress. Traffic light colour coding has been introduced to reflect

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

the strength and performance of each key asset during the development stages and how this has impacted in the progress of the cluster’s activities. The ranking of the traffic light coding reflects the discussions with stakeholders from the clusters and the under study region as well as the regional partners from the BERST project.

Table 3.1 Cluster performance in the under study key assets Key asset Primary Paper and Building Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Green Food Biofuels & Biomass cardboard materials purposes IS pesticides additives bioenergy sectors IS IS IS IS IS IS DMS Cluster Organisation4 Actors5

Entrepreneurs Policy makers Knowledge institutes Biomass supply6 Competitive bioeconomy product7 Funding8 Policies and measures9 Low Moderate High

Biocluster organization

Table 3.2 Cluster performance in biocluster organisation Key asset Primary Paper and Building Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Green Food Biofuels Biomass cardboard materials purposes IS pesticides additives & sectors IS IS IS IS IS bioenergy IS DMS Central organisation that coordinates, manages, and facilitates the

4 An organizational structure with many groups or teams to accomplish organizational objectives. 5 The key types of actors involved in the cluster formation and operation 6 The consistent provision of biomass resources at given prices throughout the operational periods 7 The commercial/ cost competitive products such as fine chemicals/medicines, food, chemicals/bioplastics, transport fuels, electricity and heat 8 Consistent funding both from public and private sources, new funding resources and attractive funding mechanisms for the entrepreneurs and investors. 9 Measures related to legislation, policies, standards, labels, certification and public procurement. 15

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland biocluster Role of key actors Entrepreneurs Policy RTD Funding The performance of the understudy bioeconomy sectors in terms of organisation has been developing, but still in the initial stage.

The role of key actors has been different.

Barriers

 The economic crisis has made it hard for growers to invest in this development. Moreover, because the transition to a biobased economy takes many years, it is hard to keep the frontrunners enthusiastic. Legislation is a barrier, because residual streams are considered to be waste, which prevents the application as a substrate for new products.

Enabling factors

 Consistent participation of entrepreneurs and good cross sector collaboration among primary and end use sectors.  The belief that we need a new economic business model and a more sustainable economy.  Subsidies  Real market demand by end users

Actors

Various actors have been participating in the biocluster; their functionality and role are briefly described below.

 The municipality of Westland delivers the chairmanship of the Steering Committee Bio Base Westland and program management. They also deliver a financial contribution to the innovation and action plan and provides policy input.

 The tomato company Lans Westland Holding BV contributes actively to the program and delivers tomatoes and their waste / residual materials for sub- projects.

 Duijvestijn Tomatoes also contributes actively to the program and develops various initiatives to valorise the tomatoes and waste materials from the company.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 Van Vliet Contrans also contributes actively and is leader of the project in which the fibres of tomatostems are refined and used for making paper and cardboard for tomato boxes.

 LTO Glaskracht Westland actively contributes to the Steering Committee Bio Base Westland.

 FloraHolland actively contributes to the Steering Committee Bio Base Westland and participates in various projects.

 Rabobank Westland actively contributes to the Steering Committee.

 Van der Windt develops and spreads biobased packaging materials.

 The Chamber of Commerce actively contributes to the organization of meetings and clustering. They connect chain parties and connects knowledge institutes with SMEs.

 The Expert Center for Plant Compounds provides knowledge and information about promising product-market combinations and plant compounds. They contribute actively to the Steering Committee Bio Base Westland.

 The Province of South Holland actively contributes to the Steering Committee Bio Base Westland. They contribute financial to the innovation and action plan and provide policy input.

 The Ministry of Economic Affairs is a partner in the Green Deal Biobased Valorisation Park Westland. They actively contribute to the project.

 Inholland takes care of the organization and supervision of a knowledgegroup with (horticulture) entrepreneurs and plays an active role in translating issues for entrepreneurs in knowledge projects. They do research on "Successful business and network models for the valorization of biomass in horticulture'' and opportunities for "Creating Additional Market Value out of Fruit & Vegetables".

 Frans Zwinkels Project and Technology is leader of the project biobased tomato boxes 2015

 Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture researches (improved) production of components in existing glasshouse crops and cultivation methods for developing new crops.

 Perfect Plants Holding is engaged in the cultivation of crops for winning plant compounds and extracts for use in the pharmaceutical industry.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 The program is financed by the Province of Zuid-Holland and the municipality of Westland.

Table 3.3 Cluster performance in actors involved Key asset Primary Paper and Building Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Green Food Biofuels Biomass cardboard materials purposes IS pesticides additives & sectors IS IS IS IS IS bioenergy IS DMS Entrepreneurs activity Interaction of entrepreneurs with RTD Geopolitical position of the region

Policy makers

The commitment of the regional policy makers is rather strong because they really believe in the development of the biobased economy and are willing to spend time and money on it. The most important policy actors and their role is briefly described below.

 The Province of South Holland actively contributes to the Steering Committee Bio Base Westland. They contribute financial to the innovation and action plan and provide policy input.

 The Ministry of Economic Affairs is a partner in the Green Deal Biobased Valorisation Park Westland. They actively contribute to the project. They support the mission and their main commitment is skipping legal obstacles.

R&D institutes

Several R&D institutions have been participating in the biocluster, their functionality and role are briefly described below.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture researches (improved) production of components in existing glasshouse crops and cultivation methods for developing new crops.

 Leiden University is partner in an project which aims to produce plant compounds against obesitas. They are testing the functionality of plant compounds on health and wellbeing aspects.

Barriers

 It is a difficult task to find market partners willing to use the plant compounds in their products.

Enabling factors

 Strong commitment from policy makers because they really believe in the development of the biobased economy and are willing to spend time and money on it.  Strong collaboration with R&D, regional partners and entrepreneurs in several EU and nationally funded projects.  Secure start-up funding from regional government.

Biomass supply

Biomass supply is primarily based on the residuals from flowers-, vegetables- and plants production; and specifically grown plants in greenhouses under optimal and controlled growing conditions.

Barriers

 It is hard to have long-term contracts for obtaining biomass with the many different entrepreneurs in the region.

Enabling factors

 High biomass availability from the well-developed agricultural sector

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 Some strong cooperatives with high entrepreneurial culture in the region.

Table 3.4 Cluster performance in biomass supply Key asset Primary Paper and Building Pharmaceuti Cosmeti Green Food Biofuels & Biomass cardboard materials cal purposes cs pesticides additives bioenergy sectors IS IS IS IS IS IS IS DMS Biomass availability Indigenous supply Biomass trade Funding

Cluster actors were able to get access to these public funds. They were used for research, communication and pilots.

Table 3.6 Cluster performance in funding Key asset Primary Paper and Building Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Green Food Biofuels Biomass cardboard materials purposes IS pesticides additives & sectors IS IS IS IS IS bioenergy IS DMS Public funds Accessibility to funds Private funds

Barriers

 Due to the economic crisis it has been hard for the growers to invest.

Enabling factors

EU funding through projects

 Strong and continuous project development activities with the collaboration of R&D and entrepreneurs.

Policies and measures

The key drivers for policy formation in the region so far have been The Municipality of Westland, Province of South-Holland, the Ministry of Economic affairs and the European Union.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

The Bio Base Westland agenda is embedded in the national policy ‘topsectoren beleid’ (i.e.: topsector policy) and in provincial economic policies. In this framework Bio Base Westland is partner in the national innovation and research agenda ‘New business with high quality and green plant compounds from horticulture’.

Table 3.7 Cluster performance in policies and measures Key asset Primary Paper and Building Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Green Food Biofuels Biomass cardboard materials purposes IS pesticides additives & sectors IS IS IS IS IS bioenergy MS DMS Presence of policy instruments Effectiveness of policy instruments Consistency of policy Monitoring procedures An important policy driver so far has been the so-called Green Deals (in which the national government commits to take away legislation difficulties that hamper new sustainable activities/processes/products), agreements of intention, subsidy programs of the province (clusterregeling) and Topsectorprogram.

Barriers

 Legislation in national and EU laws discourages the application of rest streams. Rest streams are considered as waste with all kinds of limiting factors.

 The fragmented nature of the various bio-based economy sectors prohibits the fast design and uptake of cross sector targets and the subsequent sectorial policy alignment.

 The environmental impact of fossil substrates is not part of the price. Because of that fossil fuels have an advantage.

Enabling factors

 Consistency and stability of policy aims and targets.

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 Strong involvement from local government from the initial stage

 Reinforcement of trans-regional and international perspective would expand business development prospects.

2.5 Concluding remarks and lessons for other regions

Difficulties and opportunities during the initial and drive to maturity stages

 The long term of the transition (to keep everybody enthusiastic) and the financial crisis (especially for the growers). To find market partners willing to use the plant compounds in their products  Opportunity: The belief that we need a new economic business model and a more sustainable economy.

Lessons learnt

General lessons from the development of the bio-cluster in Westland

In this section a set of general lessons have been collected based on the interviews with different stakeholders in the Good Practice clusters/ regions. The lessons are linked to the under study key assets (cluster organisation, actors, biomass supply, competitive biobased products, funding and policies/ measures) and are further evaluated with the support of the regional agency as opportunities and/or barriers for the future development of the cluster in Westland to foster the development of concise recommendations.

The analysis presented in Table 4.1 is further integrated into the last section of this chapter dealing with recommendations for the region.

Table 4.1 General lessons drawn from good practice clusters with opportunities and barriers in exploiting them in Westland. General lesson Key asset related Stage related Opportunities/ to to Barriers Triple helix is beneficial; Academic sector, public Cluster Initial Opportunity administration sector and industry and private organisation sector. Networking is of great importance, in particular joint Actors Initial Opportunity actions with different target groups having the same Drive to targets. maturity Maturity Relatively open and close cooperation and common Actors Drive to Opportunity targets, shared visions and a kind of open innovation maturity system to some extent. Maturity Location close to raw material is a key success factor Biomass supply Initial Opportunity Drive to maturity Maturity The scale and nature of supply & logistics is complex; Biomass supply Drive to Opportunity it is therefore very important that local industry and maturity

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland regional authorities have strong collaborations Maturity The development of competitive biobased products Competitive Drive to Opportunity should meet the requirements of industrial actors Biobased maturity and be supported by them products Maturity Start up financing from the industry creates better Competitive Drive to Opportunity prospects for product development and market Biobased maturity uptake products Maturity Policies with a long term orientation on bioeconomy Policies Drive to Opportunity are more likely to be successful. maturity Maturity The future strategy and perspectives of the cluster Policy Drive to Opportunity should be carefully considered with the participation maturity of the industry. Maturity If business development is only dependent on public Funding Drive to We agree funding, then there is a risk. maturity Maturity Subsidies for initial investments in bioenergy have Funding Drive to We agree been crucial. maturity Maturity Provide for short-, middle- and long term successes. Cluster Drive to Opportunity Keep everybody enthusiastic. organisation and maturity Actors Maturity

It is favourable for a Cluster to identify at an early stage those objectives that are common and fundamental for most – if not all – of its members and that all of its members are willing to support and commonly pursue in due time.

It also takes a committed core of people that maintain their focus upon developing the Cluster’s activities. Funding is important for the initial stage, because it allows for the events and meetings that will help create the initial momentum of the Cluster.

Table 4.2 Specific lessons learnt in Westland compared to good practices Specific lessons per Specific lessons Bioeconomy sectors10 key asset Organisation Triple helix co-operations should Primary Biomass sectors (eventually) have companies in the lead. Paper and cardboard Building materials Actual commitment for a number of Green pesticides years is essential. It is essential to focus on realising Primary Biomass sectors business cases and develop a project Paper and cardboard portfolio with focus on both short (to Pharmaceutical show early successes and keep people purposes interested) and long term (to reach large Green pesticides impact stadium). Food additives Expectation management is important, Primary Biomass sectors particularly towards policy makers: the Paper and cardboard Building materials transition of a biobased economy will Pharmaceutical take more than a decade. purposes Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy

10 The bioeconomy sectors defined in BERST 23

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

Actors Effective cooperation between agro and Primary Biomass sectors chemistry requires parties to overcome Paper and cardboard Building materials large differences in cultures and Pharmaceutical interests. This is a time consuming purposes process. Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy Research organisations have strong Primary Biomass sectors expertise and international leadership Paper and cardboard Building materials Pharmaceutical purposes Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy Strong cooperatives with high Primary Biomass sectors entrepreneurial culture in the region. Paper and cardboard Building materials Pharmaceutical purposes Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy Products Variability of bio-based market sectors Primary Biomass sectors increases the complexity for cross over Paper and cardboard Building materials technological transfers, scaling up of Pharmaceutical new pathways and commercialisation of purposes new bio-base products. Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy Efficient transfer of knowledge and high Primary Biomass sectors rates of adoption of innovation Paper and cardboard Building materials Pharmaceutical purposes Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy Funding Financial instruments of governments Primary Biomass sectors really help business development for Paper and cardboard Building materials new, high risk activities. Pharmaceutical purposes Cosmetics Green pesticides Food additives Biofuels & bioenergy Policies Strategic/plan should be based on the Primary Biomass sectors strengths of local bioeconomy Paper and cardboard Building materials (availability of biomass, knowledge Pharmaceutical institutions, logistics, availability of purposes crossover industries (energy, process Cosmetics industry, food, feed, pharma, technology Green pesticides providers). Food additives Reinforcement of trans- regional and Biofuels & bioenergy

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

international perspective would expand business development prospects.

It is essential to focus on realising business cases. Do not develop many formal organisations and relationships; this takes up a lot of time that should be spent on concrete projects.

For the large transition agenda, international cooperation in Europe (and abroad) is necessary. European funding of flagships and demo’s is important.

Try to connect the whole value chain, try not to work with (too many) competing companies.

Organise sufficient development power: companies often need intermediates that connecting value chains.

Recommendations

Based on the conclusions and the general and specific lessons presented in the tables above, recommendations are provided for the transition to the next development stage (maturity) for each of the key assets examined in the previous sections..

The key recommendations for organisation include the following:

 Don’t make it complex but start partnerships with strong innovative companies or parties and focus on smart portfolio of projects.

The key recommendations for actors include the following:

 Mid- and long-term commitment and a shared vision is essential, as well as good communication.

The key recommendations for biomass supply include the following:

The key recommendations for competitive biobased products include the following:

 Focus on market demand for functionality and strong preference for natural products.

The key recommendations for funding include the following:

Case Study (BERST region): Biobase Westland

 Involve industrial or private partners and support them with governmental subsidies.

The key recommendations for policy and measures include the following:

 Arrange a portfolio of policy measures including knowledge, finances, communication, matchmaking events, licences and an entrepreneurs’ platform.

2.6 References/ Links www.gemeentewestland.nl www.biobasewestland.nl