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This paper offers a systematic overview of policies that may cause synergies and trade-offs between agricultural policy objectives on productivity, climate change adaptation and mitigation for the Netherlands. Implementation of the climate policy is to a large extent based on voluntary agreements with the private sector, but supported by regulations, subsidies, tax incentives, emissions trade, extension services and demonstration projects. Synergies between objectives are exploited through policy different programmes including public private partnerships (PPP) at different institutional levels.

The transition to a bioeconomy requires vast amounts of feedstock to serve a wide range of functionalities in a broad panel of applications in sectors as: construction, textile, paper, automotive, horticulture, and livestock farming. Herbaceous crops and residue streams like flax, hemp, miscanthus, cereal straw, reed and verge grass offer a wide range of characteristics which can serve multiple applications. This report analyses and explores the potential of production and valorisation of herbaceous feedstock in the Netherlands and eventually at regional level.An analysis is made of current production and applications of herbaceous crops and residue streams.Present supply and demand were matched by an evaluation of imports and exports.Circular economy policies, agendas and ambitions were reviewed for relevant topics: climate change, circular bioeconomy, regional development; and at 3 levels: EU, Netherlands and province of Gelderland.Also, important considerations regarding circularity and sustainability aspects of biobased value chains were discussed, with focus on construction and textiles sector.Further, potential future use in products, indication of demanded product volumes for most promising applications, and production of herbaceous feedstock in the Netherlands in 2050 were studied. An exercise to match estimated demand and required production area was performed, taking into consideration typical scale of conversion technologies related to product demand.Subsequently a SWOT analysis for use of each herbaceous feedstock for regional conversion into biobased applications is carried out to identify the main points of attention and needs such as knowledge, infrastructure, collaborations, regulations and policies, technology for the valorisation of different feedstocks for different applications. Finally, recommendations are provided to next possible actions to materialise the transition to regional supply of herbaceous biomass for making bio-based products by local circular value chains.Compared to conventional crops, flax, hemp and miscanthus are relatively small crops in production volumes. Each of them finds its way in a diverse range of applications as mentioned above. And despite the small volumes, flax and hemp feedstock and products are exported and imported for several reasons, circularity and regionality not being an aspect of decisive importance. Cereal straw as a side stream and verge grass and reed as residue streams are produced in much higher quantities, yet they are underutilised from a circular economy perspective and mainly ploughed under directly without prior other use. Using e.g. cereal straw as animal bedding first would retain the soil improving capacity while largely reducing the need to import straw.Towards combatting climate change, establishing circular bioeconomy and developing regional value chains, policy frameworks are set at the 3 levels: EU, Netherlands and province of Gelderland. What is missing, however, is focus on value added specializations and innovations in circular econo...