All the red bags are placed in 2-cubic-yard plastic carts on wheels, Hicks says. The carts have lids with a gasket to prevent leaks in case they are overturned. When the carts are filled with red bags they are taken from the hospital to a facility where they are mechanically emptied, dumped, washed and returned.
"The waste is fed into a steam autoclave where it is melted, unrecognizable and rendered innocuous," Hicks says. "It comes out of the steam autoclave as a liquid ooze that is landfilled."