Pulverized beer bottles are used to restore coral reefs in Puerto Rico

An innovative project involves pulverizing Medalla Light glass bottles into sand as a key ingredient in the cement mix used to plant corals on the seafloor. The objective is to grow new colonies of corals of the Acropora palmata species.

The glass in Medalla Light beer bottles contains the same components that corals use to create their skeletons. This project seeks to be able to restore more than 10,000 square meters of colonies around Puerto Rico in the first years. For this, 30,000 glass bottles will be recycled, an important figure in a country where there are no recycling policies in place. This mixture can be used throughout the archipelago, and groups of citizens are already being trained to extend the practice to other communities.

In August 2021, the government of Puerto Rico declared an ecological emergency due to the rapid spread of the stony coral tissue loss disease, a threat to the island's environment and economy. This adds to the onslaught of hurricanes, earthquakes and tremors, in addition to the human impact of sewage discharge, overfishing, plastic pollution, and recreational impacts on shorelines from boat moorings, snorkeling, and scuba diving. 

Faced with this situation and concerned about the pressing situation of the reefs, Cervecera de Puerto Rico company, with the help of marine biologists from Isla Mar and HJR Reefscaping, decided to be part of the solution, transforming the waste glass from its bottles into the base to repopulate Puerto Rican and Caribbean reefs.

Chief Executive Officer: Edgardo M. Rivera

Chief Creative Officer: Enrique Renta 

Creative Director: Mauricio Cortés 

Creative Director: Leslie Robles 

ACD / Copywriter: Patricia Peréz

ACD / Copywriter: Lorena Berges

Art Director: Angel Rivera

Editor: José Cintrón

Audio Engineer: Carlos Rivera

Producer: Adriana Rivera

Producer: Blanca Abreu 

Producer: Mónica López

Producer: Ive Negrón

Account Director; Vivian Velazquez

Account supervisor: Jamie Ruiz

Content Manager: Gabriela Ayala

Public Relations Director: Yashira Torres

Planning Director: José Gonzalez

Performance Specialist: Jessica Torres

Media Executive: Nildaly Lara

Performance Media Specialist: Jessica Torres

Media Strategy Director: Alicia Guzmán