Professor Weslynne Ashton Featured in WTTW’s Chicago Works Series

Professor Weslynne Ashton appears in WTTW’s Chicago Works with Geoffrey Baer, offering her expertise on the systems behind Chicago’s recycling infrastructure. In the episode, she examines what happens to recyclables after they leave our bins—and reveals significant opportunities for the city to improve.

With Chicago’s recycling rate at just 10 percent, Professor Ashton notes that the city has substantial room for growth.

The Chicago Works program examines the system that processes our waste, from the high- and low-tech machinery at Back-of-the-Yards facilities to the barriers preventing better outcomes citywide.

Systems thinking is central to Weslynne’s work and our approach to design at ID. Whether examining recycling infrastructure, urban systems, or circular economy models, we help people observe the systems they’re surrounded by and imagine new pathways forward.

The Emmy Award-winning series Chicago Works, hosted by WTTW producer Geoffrey Baer, celebrates the people and processes that keep the city running, often in ways we never see, revealing how Chicago earns its reputation as “the city that works.”

Watch the full episode on WTTW.

Weslynne Ashton is a Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainability at the Institute of Design and the Stuart School of Business. She is also Co-Director of ID’s Food Systems Action Lab.

Weslynne was recognized by the 2025 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards and featured on the HBR On Strategy podcast in June 2025 following her masterclass at HBR’s Leaders Who Make a Difference conference.