For many, coffee is the best way to wake up and they can't start the day without it. There are also those who like to "look" into the cup and look for "material" for fortune telling in the symbols that appear in the sediment.
For Marko Milačić from Cetinje, coffee awakened a new idea, and the dregs served as an unusual challenge - to make a souvenir, but also liquid soap and candles.
"From the age of 16, I worked in a bar to earn money for my education - first for the secondary medical school in Podgorica, and later for the Faculty of Psychology. One of the things that remains in my memory in that job is the 'weight' of carrying a coffee bag. One day I was sitting in a bar in Cetinje, drinking coffee and thinking - what if we recycled coffee. And that's how it all started - the team changed a lot, people came and went, but we made consistent progress in all of that," the young Cetinje native, who turned 25 last weekend, tells "Vijesti".
In a year, he managed to collect almost six tons of coffee and paper, and he managed to recycle and compost a third of it.
"I made souvenirs from coffee and managed to develop a coffee-based liquid soap that is very applicable for exfoliation, and I also made candles. However, soap and candles require a huge amount of raw materials and I saw that it was not that profitable in our country, at least not at the beginning, so I switched to small briquettes, which I made from coffee and paper, and used them to repel mosquitoes, and for the last two months I have literally been warming myself on them," says Marko, showing off the souvenir he made.
Fap can't do anything to them.
He explains that he made the souvenir using old molds, that he has since acquired new ones, but that he is waiting for the raw material, organic glue.
He says he can make 20 souvenirs a day, but since he dries them naturally, it takes about ten days for them to dry. He tested their hardness by running Fap over them. They remained intact, hard, and he gave one of the tested souvenirs to a journalist from “Vijesti”.
"In addition to the technology for making souvenirs that I presented to the public, there is another one that I could patent and I would like to do it. If I did that, only we in Montenegro would be able to produce souvenirs from coffee grounds in this way. To patent it, I need cooperation with universities, which I have not had so far, and about 2.500 euros, but also the ability to do this business, because I would not be able to do it now. We have 5.000 tons of this raw material annually and if we were to succeed in patenting and developing this production, we could generate, in the best case scenario, 20 percent of Montenegro's gross domestic product," claims the young psychologist from Cetinje who decided to study statistics two years ago.
Obstacle regulations
In September last year, the startup founded by him and Igor Radulović from Podgorica, an IT specialist, became the limited liability company (DOO) "Salvage", which aims to promote the production, advertising and sale of circular products. But not yet coffee products.
"In order for people to leave their coffee waste with me, i.e. for me to store it, I have to get a certificate from the Environmental Protection Agency, and for all that I need a huge piece of land, a large facility, and 30 thousand euros in my account. At the moment I only have a machine and an idea, so I only make souvenirs for personal use or possibly as a gift for a tourist. I believe that the legal framework needs to be changed so that we can fully legalize this production."
But, he adds, the doors of the European Union (EU) countries are wide open for him and he already has offers from Germany and Austria, but he has not yet decided to take that step. For now, he has applied, as he said, with various ideas, because he has no shortage of them, to all the competitions announced by the state and they will see what happens.
"I try to be proactive - in the environment I grew up and live in, that's my only way out. I'm basically developing a few things related to the circular economy and blockchain, that is, how waste can be tokenized. I have another business that I'm developing, and it's about helping small and medium-sized businesses implement AI tools in their business."
Although working on the circular economy and making souvenirs from recycled coffee at first glance has little to do with psychology, Miloš believes that the work he does has fulfilled the mission of his profession.
"Psychologists did not exist in the Middle Ages. Psychology is a relatively new science, it has existed since the 19th century. However, when you refer to Jung and most of these famous psychologists, even Freud, they refer to the alchemists from the Middle Ages who tried to make gold out of ordinary earth or anything else. I think that I have absolutely fulfilled my mission, in a way, of my profession in some deeper part with this initiative because I am creating new value from something that is waste."
When asked if he comes as some kind of modern-day alchemist, Marko adds with a smile - an alchemist of Generation Z.
He believes that people who are always ready to support new ideas, to stand behind them, including his story, are quite marginalized from society, and that mediocrity is very present. He says that the greatest resistance to the realization of the idea came from people in high positions, both in the municipality and in the state, and allegedly successful businessmen. According to him, young people are quite inert, and pathological cynicism is the biggest problem for an idea to succeed.
"Young people are aware of the situation in our society and do not have enough courage to try to do something. I know a lot of people who had the support of their families and environment and managed to tell their stories, but unfortunately outside of Montenegro. Statistics show that young people want secure employment, because here as soon as you have stagnation, you have made a mistake and they forget you. I think that some people have really contributed to the promotion of entrepreneurship in the past 30 years, but I am afraid that today they do not know how to make a difference between innovation and an entrepreneur. I respect every entrepreneur, but I would not like someone to put an equal sign, with all due respect, towards a taxi driver standing in front of a bus and a guy like me, who has been trying to do something for two years and because of numerous attempts, mistakes and other things, without any hope that it will ever come back to him."
Tehnopolis' mission - combining entrepreneurship and innovation
Miloš, together with Igor Radulović, participated in the RISE project, which has been implemented by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Tehnopolis, together with partners, since 2019. During the aforementioned project, which ends at the end of this year, more than 200 young entrepreneurs from the Western Balkan countries were supported, and one of the supported ideas was coffee recycling.
"The RISE project, where young people aged 16 to 35 could apply during five cycles, focused on socially responsible entrepreneurship, or social entrepreneurship, which differs from essential entrepreneurship because part of the profit is returned to the community and includes people who are less employable. The RISE project had elements of green and transitional-circular entrepreneurship. This is something that makes this project different, and after the completion of the RISE project, Tehnopolis will continue to provide support to social entrepreneurs and social innovators, because through RISE we saw that this is an incredible potential and that such people should be supported," says Anđela Nikčević, Project Management Manager at Tehnopolis.
He explains that during the RISE project, young people did not have to have a fully developed business idea, but it was enough for them to recognize that they were dealing with social problems, to think about solutions that they would implement in local communities, and to have a certain potential for developing the idea.
One of the negotiation chapters with the EU that Montenegro has temporarily closed is Chapter 20, which relates to entrepreneurship and industrial policy and aims to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation. The EU highlights entrepreneurship and industry as one of the priorities for the future of the European economy and sets three basic pillars that define this chapter: entrepreneurial policy, industrial policy and sectoral policies aimed at increasing competitiveness in the market. Entrepreneurship of young people, business start-ups, people with disabilities and women is particularly encouraged, as well as investment in energy efficiency, environmental protection and the introduction of quality management systems and international quality standards. All of this was the goal of the RISE project, but also one of the missions of Tehnopolis - connecting entrepreneurship and innovation.
"All our programs and all the initiatives that Tehnopolis implements combine entrepreneurship and innovation. In fact, the core of this organization is bringing innovations to entrepreneurship, it connects and supports such innovative companies, innovative individuals and startups to emerge stronger and more ready for the market. Marko is our tenant, he went through the program through the incubator and therefore, with the published call, he nominated the idea for participation in the pre-acceleration program," Nikčević points out.
"Participation in the RISE project meant a lot to me in terms of connection, development of the complete idea, and in terms of positioning myself, as far as social entrepreneurship is concerned, in a different way," emphasizes Marko.
Chapter 20 - the foundation for a modern, innovative and competitive economy
Support for young creative people and their innovative ideas is one of Montenegro's key commitments within Chapter 20 - Entrepreneurship and Industrial Policy, Predrag Zenović, Montenegro's chief negotiator with the EU, tells "Vijesti".
"In that sense, stories like this one, about a young man who turned his unique idea into a concrete business and registered a LLC, best illustrate how important and possible it is for ideas to be translated into sustainable business models, with appropriate institutional and financial support. He and people like him are the best ambassadors of what we are doing through this chapter - building the foundations for a modern, innovative and competitive economy."
As he points out, such initiatives show that young people do not have to rely exclusively on the Labor Bureau, but that they can create their own business future.
"Our task, as institutions implementing European reforms, is to enable them to do so through clear policies, concrete programs and available sources of funding. Through the Industrial Policy of Montenegro 2024-2028, as the umbrella strategic document in this chapter, we have recognized young people and women as key actors of change and development, and directed a series of measures towards their empowerment - from grants, support for the purchase of equipment, mentoring, to access to finance and digital tools," emphasizes Zenović.
According to him, specialized self-employment and startup development programs, as well as measures implemented with the support of IPA funds, create a favorable business environment for the launch and development of small businesses, especially in the areas of green economy, digital transformation, and creative industries.
"By joining the EU, we are not only adopting its standards, but also establishing mechanisms that directly help young people to stay, create and succeed in Montenegro," said Montenegro's chief negotiator with the EU.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation also emphasizes that the Innovation Fund, through its program lines, recognizes the importance of supporting young creative people with innovative ideas, which is very important for Chapter 20.
Milačić started from a startup and reached a limited liability company - from an idea to the possibility of creating a sustainable business model. As the Ministry told "Vijesti", the Innovation Fund has placed a special focus on supporting the development of the early stages of startups, because "it is then that ideas are shaped into concrete products and services that can become competitive on the market."
"The Early Stage Startup Support Program is designed to support highly promising teams that aim to validate their business ideas and prove the future utility of their new product, service, process or technology - through the development of the first prototype or minimum viable product. Beneficiaries of the Program receive grants and mentoring support, which helps them conduct the first phase of in-depth market research, initiate product development, establish a business model concept and prepare for the next phase of fundraising and further development," the Ministry explained.
For the aforementioned support program, teams of two to five members or privately owned micro-enterprises (in the form of a LLC), registered in Montenegro for no longer than two years at the time of application, can apply until June 3, and they can receive a maximum of 30 thousand euros per project and an additional five thousand for mentoring support.
"In addition to the Startup Development Support Program, other programs implemented by the Fund are particularly relevant for this target group, namely: the Program for Supporting the Implementation of Educational Activities in the Areas of Smart Specialization and the Program for Encouraging Innovation Culture. Both programs aim to make a continuous contribution to the growth of Montenegro's competitiveness and to building an economy based on innovation and knowledge," they told "Vijesti".
For the three aforementioned programs, as well as for programs to strengthen the innovativeness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, innovative concept testing, and the innovation voucher program, the Innovation Fund allocated 2,4 million euros.
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