Patent ID: 7126480

Claim:
A system for sorting medical waste items, the system comprising: a plurality of sorting stations in electronic communication with one another via a central processing unit in a centralized network, the sorting stations and the central processing unit being physically separated from one another; a classification database residing in the central processing unit, the database listing a plurality of waste item identifiers distributed into a plurality of waste categories; each sorting station comprising: a plurality of container compartments, each container compartment comprising a first opening that is configured to receive a removable container; a plurality of removable containers, each removable container being sized and configured to be placed in one of the container compartments and further sized and configured to receive a plurality of medical waste items, each removable container comprising a second opening and a movable lid wherein the movable lid is movable to an open position to reveal the second opening and is movable to a covered position to occlude the second opening; a waste item identification device configured to receive a waste item identifier from a waste item; a decision system configured to classify the waste item into a waste category using the waste item identifier and information contained in the classification database; wherein each of the containers is associated with one of the waste categories; wherein the decision system is further configured to indicate into which of the removable containers a waste item should be deposited; wherein the decision system is further configured to allow the movable lid on at least one of the removable containers to move to the open position if the removable container is associated with the waste category; and wherein the decision system is further configured to lock the movable lid of a removable container when the removable container is full such that the opening in the removable container is occluded by the movable lid when the removable container is removed from the container compartment.