According to the University of Melbourne, 51 million tyres are discarded annually in Australia. The good news is they are recyclable and reusable in many ways from playgrounds to asphalt.

The bad news? It is an expensive process which can cause environmental harm. But Pearl Global (ASX: PG1) has won an $800,000 Queensland government grant for its business.

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Pearl Global’s process shreds tyre material and transforms it into steel, fuel oils and carbon without emissions. Pearl Global beat some 120 similar companies to be the first to obtain such a grant.

The program comes as Queensland minister for state development, Cameron Dick, declared: “We are on the cusp of a recycling and resource recovery boom.”

The Queensland government wants to reduce waste and is working on a 10-year roadmap and action plan – having issued a discussion paper last year. Already it has banned single use plastic bags and begun a container refund scheme.

A waste disposal levy has been announced and will be introduced in July. The levy will be $75 per tonne of general waste and waste disposal site operators will bear it. Consequently it will be more cost-effective to recycle tyres rather than leave them to rot.

Pearl Global told shareholders about its victory this morning and announced it will match the government’s grant with $800,000 of its own. The total $1.6 million will mean Pearl Global will consequently increase its processing from 1,000 tonnes per annum to over 12,000 tonnes per annum.

In other ASX small cap corporate news today…

Australian Braking Technology (ASX: ABV) has announced an order for its Failsafe brakes. ABV’s specially sealed and ultra-durable brakes will be installed in Toyota Landcruisers used on the WestConnex M4-M5 Link twin tunnel motorway project. Conditions of tunnels reduce the lives of vehicle brakes – similar to mines. But as ABT CEO John Annand said the order was “further demonstration that our Failsafe range of braking products has a place in vehicles in a range of industry applications where safety and cost efficiencies are paramount”.

Among small cap substantial holder movements today, Woolworths revealed it had bought into Marley Spoon (ASX: MMM). Also, Regal Funds Management bought into woodfibre processor Midway (ASX: MWY) spending $10 million to accrue an 8 per cent stake. It also reduced its stake in Red 5 (ASX: RED) to 7.04 per cent after selling $2 million. Challenger ceased to be substantial holders in Amaysim (ASX: AYS) because it sold $200,000 of shares.

A2 Milk (ASX: A2M) have responded to yesterday’s announcement by the Chinese government about  the implementation of its e-commerce legislation. Chinese regulators will increase the focus on supervision and enforcement of the regulation and standardise e-commerce business practices. The company said it welcomes “measures that will protect the rights and safety of consumers and the overall integrity of e-commerce channels”.

A week after announcing ex-CEO Mike Timoney had given up on his attempts to overthrow the board, Smiles Inclusive (ASX: SIL) has raised $1.2 million. The company said the funds will “help deliver the company’s turnaround plan and meet its working capital requirements”. Smiles also announced cost reductions and the departure of its company secretary. CFO Emma Corcoran will take her responsibilities.