Patent ID: 7660724

Claim:
A sorting system for sorting a plurality of medical waste items, the sorting system comprising: a control system; a plurality of container compartments, each container compartment configured to receive a removable container; a plurality of removable containers; a plurality of liners; wherein each of said removable containers is adapted to receive at least one of said liners, wherein each of said removable containers and said liners has an opening, and wherein each of the liners comprises a machine-readable identification key associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories such that the machine-readable identification key identifies the liner to the control system, thereby defining a category of waste to be placed in the liner within the container; a movable lid adapted to cover each of said removable containers, wherein the movable lid is movable to an open position and a closed position, a scanner for receiving barcode information from a waste item; and at least one key reader within the sorting system that reads the machine-readable identification key on the liner to determine the liner type; wherein the control system is configured to electronically assign the scanned waste item to at least one waste category based at least in part on the information obtained from the scanner and a database comprising waste item classification information; wherein the control system is configured to determine the appropriate container based on the waste category to which the scanned waste item is assigned and the liner type; wherein the control system is further configured to identify the appropriate container to a user by automatically moving the lid adapted to cover the appropriate container to the open position to permit disposal of said waste item; and wherein the movable lid adapted to cover the appropriate container is configured to lock in the closed position after receipt of the waste item.