Patent ID: 7303080

Claim:
A system for determining the level of contents within a waste container, 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; a waste item identification device configured to read a barcode on an item of medical waste; a control system configured to compare information obtained from the barcode to medical waste item classification information in a database; wherein the control system is further configured to assign the item to at least one medical waste category; and wherein the control system is further configured to identify one of the removable containers based on the medical waste category; wherein the control system allows the movable lid coupled to the identified removable container to move to the open position; and wherein the control system is further configured to lock the movable lid in a closed position when the control system determines that the removable container has reached a pre-determined fill level; at least one optical source; at least one optical detector; and a processor configured to determine a level of contents of the at least one container by analysis of data received from the at least one optical detector.