Patent ID: 7562025

Claim:
A sorting system for sorting a plurality of medical waste items, the system comprising: 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; a movable lid coupled with each of said removable containers; wherein the removable containers are configured to be placed within the container compartments, wherein each of the removable containers is associated with at least one of a plurality of medical waste categories, wherein the movable lid is movable to an open position; and wherein the movable lid is movable to a closed position; an input device configured to receive a first information on a medical waste item, wherein said first information comprises a waste item identifier, said input device configured to query a user for a second information as to whether the waste item is empty or not empty; a control system configured to classify said waste item based on said first and second information; wherein the control system is configured to assign the medical waste item to at least one medical waste category; wherein the control system is further configured to identify one of the removable containers based on the medical waste category by allowing the movable lid of the identified removable container to move to the open position to receive the medical waste item and automatically lock in the closed position after receipt of the medical waste item.