Patent ID: 7815851

Claim:
A method of sterilizing regulated medical waste using a steam autoclave that uses high temperature steam greater than 250 degrees Fahrenheit as an agent for sterilization, comprising the steps of weighing the regulated medical waste to be sterilized to measure its weight, selecting a waste type from a plurality of waste classifications that may be treated by the autoclave, the waste type selected pertaining to the medical waste type to be sterilized, automatically varying process times, including residence time that the waste to be sterilized is exposed to steam in the autoclave, process temperatures, and process pressure, including vacuum for negative pressure and steam injection for positive pressure, to predetermined settings that correlate to the selected waste type and to the weight measured during the weighing step, and automatically varying duration of vacuum drawn and steam injection in the autoclave to predetermined settings that correlate to the selected waste type and to the weight measured during the weighing step, and sterilizing the regulated medical waste to be sterilized with the autoclave using the predetermined settings that correlate to the selected waste type and to the weight measured during the weighing step.