Nightingale Best Of Innovation Winner Delivers Safer Solution To Waste Disposal In Behavioral Health Settings

In late 2023, a state-run forensic hospital approached Cortech USA, a molded furniture manufacturer based in Willowbrook, Ill., on the facility’s need for safer product for trash disposal. A key problem the facility faced was patients being able to access the plastic trash bag or discarded waste inside to cause harm to themselves or others, including staff. “If a patient can access the plastic trash bag, there is a suffocation risk,” says Kevin Claffy, behavioral health director and associate product designer at Cortech.

As a result, Claffy says that many behavioral health facilities avoid using waste containers and instead create workarounds. “They use paper bags, plastic bags with holes punched in them, or no bag at all, leaving staff to collect trash by hand,” he says.

During research to guide product development, the company also talked with emergency departments (ED), which shared another problem related to trash disposal in healthcare facilities: contraband left in trashcans. “We heard directly from one county-run medical center that had two incidents in which patients entering the ED discarded firearms in trash receptacles, which were only discovered when another patient found them,” he adds.

Cortech’s SafeBin addresses these issues with a tamper-resistant design that blocks access to the trash bag and secures anything placed inside until staff unlock the unit. Additionally, the waste disposal solution is ligature-resistant and able to be secured to the floor or wall.

The research behind the product design and its potential applications outside of behavioral health caught jurors’ attention in the 2025 Nightingale Awards, earning SafeBin a Gold Award in the Storage & Accessories category and the Best of Innovation Award, which was presented at the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo, held Oct. 25-28 in Kansas City, Mo.

See full article and interview with Kevin Claffy of Cortech USA at healthcaredesignmagizine.com