SEATTLE -- Washington state ferry workers are intentionally throwing away tons of recycled goods, even after commuters are tricked into carefully separating everything into bins.

KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne set up an undercover sting to expose the environmentally unfriendly deception.

"Recycling. So simple it works!" That's the fancy logo painted on about 400 new canisters aboard Washington state ferries.

Trash only, bottles and cans, newspaper -- all separate containers. But out of sight of the public, we discovered it's being mixed back together and sent to the landfill.

Twenty-two times over the course of a month, KIRO Team 7 Investigators set sail on the Seattle-to-Bainbridge Island ferry run, hidden cameras in tow.

We watched as every scrap of recycled material on all 22 of those trips was thrown away in this trash compactor at the Coleman dock.

Want proof?

Our undercover crews slipped bright, lime green cards into newspaper-only recycle bins. We stashed marked plastic bottles as well. Thousands of commuters then stuffed the containers full on their ferry rides to work.

We repeatedly followed our marked bags from bin to onboard collection to garbage cart to offload, then right into the trash.

Ferry workers involved in the recycling program didn’t want to answer questions when Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne approached.

Halsne: "There appears to be an awful lot of recyclable material, a vast amount here, that is being thrown away. We're trying to get to the bottom of why?"

Ferry Employee: (Shrugs, hands up in air) "I have no comment. I don't know why."
Halsne: "But it's true. Is there somebody who tells you to throw it all away? We've been watching people put their newspapers in the recycle bin only, then have it turn up right here."
Ferry Employee: (using radio) "Is there somebody to come to the Dumpster and tell these reporters I don't want to talk to them?"

Maybe the manager she called on her radio has the answer.

Halsne: "The question is why all the recycled goods that people put in the recycle bin on the ferry are being thrown away. I think that would upset a lot of folks who are separating that. We're trying to get an answer."
Ferry Manager: (blank look)
Halsne: "Do you have one?"
Ferry Manager: (blank look- shrugs)

I guess not. How about his manager, who arrived, then promptly ran away from our cameras?

Halsne: "I thought you were the supervisor. You're not going to answer any questions? Why are you throwing away the recyclables? It's a really simply question."
Ferry Manager #2: (walks away to get security)

Ferry riders were unanimously upset by the findings of our investigation.

Laurel Wilson lives on Bainbridge Island.

“Oh, my goodness gracious! That is incredible. That's really amazing. That's really a waste. Too bad. First of all it's so deceptive. They have this entire PR program how simple- what is it? ‘So simple. It works.’ Right.”

Linda Wolf used to hold onto, then carry home, her recycled waste from ferry rides before the bins were placed onboard.

“It makes me want to cry. It makes me feel deeply betrayed and angry and duped. To me this is really high on the list of ailments in our world. I run a non-profit organization for teenagers. The motto of our non-profit is 'a safe place to tell the truth.' So for me, the truth is like so high in importance and value and to discover this isn't true. That hurts.”

Ferry rider Paul Menzel questions who is really to blame for this mess.

“We recycle everything. Employees have nothing to gain by not following through. I'd say it is management not setting the tone to follow through.”

Our hidden cameras captured more than just a few instances of innocent employee error.

We watched as ferry workers repeatedly mixed clean, newspaper from recycle bins into filthy bags of food waste, ruining any chance of re-use. Even when recyclables were clearly kept separate -- all the way to the dockside trash compactor -- workers threw them anyway.

Watch as this ferry employee chucks not only our green-tagged newspapers, but an entire bag of plastic bottles. It wouldn't have been too much work to find the dock recycle container. It was less than 10 feet away.

Steve Rodgers is Director of Operations for Washington's ferry system.

“We had no idea that this was occurring. It's my responsibility to ensure that the crews are informed and that they follow our expectations and now that this has been brought to our attention, I fully expect to go out and ensure that is done.”

Tossing all the recycled goods is bad enough, but while working undercover on the ferry system, KIRO Team 7 Investigators also discovered a serious security breach.

These canister tops are specifically designed with narrow openings and a locking device. They are that way so nobody can easily hide a backpack with explosives.

We found them routinely disabled, making it easier for trash collection, but more dangerous for ferry riders.

“Somebody can't just lift the top,” University of Washington Mechanical Engineering professor Vipin Kumar, told us. As part of a school project, three of his students helped design the new canisters. Ferry officials wanted three things; a security feature, better ergonomics (so employees wouldn't hurt their backs), plus something that ferry riders could easily spot & use.

He's really proud of his students, but our hidden camera images of ferry workers disabling key safety latches and turning recycling to garbage makes him a bit frustrated.

“I'm disappointed to hear that because they were designed with the idea of recycling in mind and if the ferry system has not come to the point of actually recycling them, it's disappointing. I certainly hope that they follow through in the future.”

We don't know for certain if recycled goods are being thrown away on ferry runs other than Seattle to Bainbridge Island. However, we're told that if that has been occurring, it's going to stop. The Department of Transportation promises us it will be reevaluating and retraining its employees.

We informed high-ranking ferry officials of the security risks a month ago, so they could correct the problem well before the airing of this KIRO Team 7 Investigation.