HIP-Petrohemija’s Young Professionals Develop an Innovative Solution for a More Sustainable Future
23.07.2026
7 minuta čitanja
Over the past few months, a team of young professionals from HIP-Petrohemija — Katarina Ivanović, Bojan Zemljak, Bojana Dimitrić, Andrijana Višnjić and Marko Hajdukov — participated in the SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals, a program that supports the development of innovative, sustainability-focused solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The program brought together young professionals from leading companies across Serbia to develop innovative solutions that contribute to more sustainable business practices and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
Katarina and Bojana explain that they joined the program to put two of HIP-Petrohemija’s core values — innovation and expertise — into practice while making a tangible contribution to sustainable development.
– We wanted to use our expertise and innovative potential to develop practical, sustainable solutions to global challenges. We saw the SDG Innovation Accelerator as an opportunity to apply our technological expertise to responsible consumption and production while continuing to develop our knowledge and skills – say Katarina and Bojana.
Through five in-person workshops, online lectures, learning activities on the Academy platform and mentoring support, participants worked through the entire design-thinking process — from identifying challenges and developing ideas to presenting an innovative solution.
Bojan Zemljak
OSH specialist
Bojan explains the concept developed by the team during the program: using stabilized sludge from the wastewater treatment plant as a secondary raw material for the construction industry:
– We developed a sustainable solution that transforms non-hazardous waste — stabilized sludge from wastewater treatment — into a standardized, commercially viable by-product. Rather than being disposed of as waste, the material could be supplied to the construction industry and cement manufacturers as an environmentally sustainable and technically validated alternative raw material – explains Bojan.
He adds that the approach could support the circular economy by promoting more efficient use of resources and creating new value from materials traditionally regarded as waste.
One of the team’s main challenges was translating the global Sustainable Development Goals into a practical solution with real-world applications.
Katarina Ivanović
OSH competence and supervision specialist
– The greatest challenge was turning the idea into a pretotype that could be evaluated in a real-world environment. Thanks to the team’s flexibility and strong collaboration, we achieved the objectives we had set: to contribute directly to SDG 12 — Responsible Consumption and Production — by reducing waste, and to SDG 15 — Life on Land — by helping to prevent land degradation – says Katarina.
At the program’s closing event, the teams presented their projects to a panel of experts. Although the HIP-Petrohemija team did not advance to the international final at the United Nations summit in New York, their idea was recognized for its strong potential to contribute to sustainable development and the circular economy.
Bojana Dimitrić
Junior engineer for project management and monitoring
Reflecting on the experience and what she valued most about the program, Bojana highlights the practical knowledge she gained in innovation management:
– What I will remember most is the structured SDGI process — from the initial idea through the pretotype and prototype stages to the final product. The methodology taught us to consider solutions from the perspectives of different stakeholders and find the right balance between business efficiency and environmental sustainability -says Bojana.
The team believes the concept has strong potential for further development through pilot projects, which would allow the solution to be tested in a real-world operating environment before potentially being implemented on a broader scale.
By participating in the program, HIP-Petrohemija’s young professionals gained new knowledge, exchanged ideas and experiences with peers from other companies, and developed a concept with the potential to support more sustainable business practices and contribute to environmental protection for future generations.