A KIRO TV News investigation revealed that workers on the Bainbridge Island-Seattle ferry route were rounding up separated paper and plastic in on-board recycling bins…and tossing it all in the trash.
In the TV footage, KIRO reporter Chris Halsne confronts a Washington State Ferries worker who was throwing a cart full of recyclables in a trash bin.
“I don’t want to see this on KIRO News or anywhere else,” said the ferry worker before throwing a bag full of newspapers into a trash bin.
Halse then gets the runaround from two WSF supervisors who refuse to answer this basic question: why trash the presorted recyclable items?
KIRO News staff had used hidden cameras and specially marked recycled items to track the items’ trips from recycle bins (with signs declaring “Recycling. So simple it works!”) to the trash in all 22 trips they documented.
“It’s such a waste,” one ferry rider told KIRO.
“I feel deeply betrayed,” said another.
One rider said the fault lies not with the workers but with their bosses.
“Management isn’t setting the tone,” he said.
WSF management told KIRO they had “no idea” that recycling was being trashed, but vowed to set things straight now that it was brought to their attention.
To view KIRO’s story and the raw footage of ferry workers getting caught in the act, click here and find the links on the right side of the page.
Washington State’s “green” goals aren’t meant to save the environment. They’re meant to leverage tax money.
Recycling Theater