How recycled beer bottles are providing shelter from the sun’s UV rays

AS well as providing refreshment, drinking beer can have another, somewhat surprising function. In Peru, a beer brand is recycling its bottles into tiles to help protect people from the sun's UV rays.

This initiative hails from the world's largest beer company, AB inBev (Anheuser-Busch InBev).

The Belgian-Brazilian beer giant, which makes globally recognised brands such as Corona and Leffe, proposes a local beer in Peru called Arequipena Beer, named after a city like no other, Arequipa.

Here, UV radiation levels are especially high. And the sun's rays can have harmful effects on the skin, including cancer risks, premature aging, allergies and more.

Part communications campaign, part public health initiative, Arequipena Beer has recycled its glass beer bottles – which boast UV 400 protection – into tiles, designed by Sandro Angoaldo and Eddy Merida.

These have been used to create anti-UV shelters, under which people can seek refuge from the sun's rays in various strategic places in the Peruvian city, like at bus stops or cafés.

Not only does the project offer a concrete and immediate solution to protecting people from the effects of the sun, but it raises awareness about the dangers of excessive or prolonged exposure.

The tiles feature QR codes that can be flashed to access advice and even the possibility of skin cancer screening, through the NGO Por un Peru sin Cancer (For a Peru without cancer). – ETX Daily Up, May 19, 2023