Cotton gin trash comprises of leaf matter, bark, soils and other matter that has been collected during cotton harvest and is removed from the cotton lint during the ginning process.

The NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA) raised concerns about the pesticide

residues that may be contained in gin trash and has suggested that it may be classified as a hazardous waste. Cotton ginners were highly concerned about the potential costs and practical implications of such a classification of this high volume waste. In response, the Cotton Research and Development Corporation commissioned a research project, costed at $120,000, to assess the pesticide levels in gin trash. The research found that pesticide residue levels were generally

below that of the hazardous waste thresholds. As a result of this and negotiation by industry, gin trash is now expected to be classified as a solid waste.

This analysis was commissioned in order to compare the benefits and costs to industry of the change in classification of cotton gin trash. In order to undertake an economic assessment of this research, it was necessary to first develop a credible potential treatment method for gin trash as a hazardous waste. If the reclassification had been approved by the EPA, development and implementation of a treatment method would have been the responsibility of the cotton industry.

A Net Present Value of $1,232 million is estimated for the economic assessment. The calculated benefit is large and demonstrates the high value of the research to industry. The research was considered to have played the critical role in obtaining the solid waste classification of cotton gin trash. The majority of the benefit can be attributed to the avoidance of costs to industry, in particular the much higher trash sample testing costs under the hazardous waste classification.