Patent ID: 7620559

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, wherein each of said removable containers comprises an opening and a machine-readable identification key associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories such that the machine-readable identification key indicates the container's type to the control system, wherein the container type defines a category of waste to be placed in the container; a movable lid associated with each of said removable containers, wherein the removable containers are configured to be placed within the container compartments, wherein the movable lid is movable to an open position and a closed position, wherein at least a portion of one or more of said lids comprises a section that permits visualization of the fill level of the container associated with said lid, and wherein the sorting system is configured to send an alert signal when a container is full so that said full container can be replaced; 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 associated with the container to determine the container 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 container type; wherein the control system is further configured to identify the appropriate container to a user by automatically moving the lid associated with said appropriate container to the open position to permit disposal of said waste item; and wherein the control system is further configured to automatically lock the movable lid associated with said appropriate container in the closed position after receipt of the waste item.