this is worklife from bbc news, with sally bundock and david eades. the sustainability drive by big business steps up a gear but is it enough? live from london, that's our top story on monday 7th october. the company behind persil, dove, pot noodles and marmite, unilever, pledges to halve its use of new plastics in just six years. we have spoken to the bus. —— the

boss. also in the programme: how much can one tweet cost you? if you run a us basketball team and tweet about hong kong, the answer is a lot. we'll explain all a little later. and what is this? it's a mcdonald's mcrib barbecue sandwich. we'll tell you what its early seasonal appearance in the us this year has to do with the us—china trade war. we'll be getting the inside track on juggling work and family life with the co—founder of amazing if, a company that coaches staff at some of the uk's biggest companies on career development. today we want to know as national work life week begins in the uk, could your work—life balance be better? what are your tips or frustrations? let us know — just use

the hashtag bbcworklife. very warm welcome. this is our new business show, worklife. we focus on theissues business show, worklife. we focus on the issues affecting your work and the issues affecting your work and the you lead. and we start with the global consumer products giant unilever whose brands most of us use, such as persil, dove, marmite among many others. it's pledging to halve its use of new plastics by 2025, and collect or re—use more plastic than it sells. in fact around 2.5 billion of us use unilever products every day, covering 400 brands from cleaning products to shampoo and food. so how radical is unilever‘s new plastic policy? well, the issue of plastic waste is mounting with the global market for the stuff growing at about 3% each year and is expected to be worth almost $1.2 trillion by 2020. and bear in mind the world

is throwing away 300 million tons of plastic waste each year. here's the boss of unilever with more on the firm's plans. the challenge is to make sure that plastic stays in the economy and out of the environment. we want to create this circular approach where plastic is retained in the economic cycle, the circular economy, and doesn't leach out into the environment and the oceans. we would welcome and indeed are stimulating the creation of an infrastructure of recycling companies that are able to take refuse and turn it into high—quality material that can be used. we think that this commitment that we are making creates an economic incentive for that chain to fall into line and we work very closely with recycling companies and with governments at municipal and national level. we're joined by madeleine cuff, deputy editor of business green. thank you for coming in. unilever is

a huge company making a 50% cut in new plastics. their boss was talking about the circular economy. what is not to like? we have seen some plastic campaigners come out and said it does not go far enough and they want to see a large reduction in plastics, but given the size of unilever, it is quite a big commitment from them. we will see huge investment from them a new recycling plants and new technologies for recycling that tricky to recycle plastic waste like sachets. and in business models such as refillable bottles for consumers. they will see things delivered to their house and they will have to return the packaging. it is quite a big change for unilever. it is a big change and it will be expensive and it is not clear is that will be passed on to the consumer in terms of prices going up. do you think i'm unilever‘s perspective and other companies like them, they are weighing up the environment we are in right now, what millennial is supposedly one, and feel they have got to do it? they are weighing up a

few things. consumer pressure has been huge on companies to take more action on plastic waste. it is one of the top things that people think about when choosing which brand to buy. they are also weighing up the threat of regulatory pressure in the uk, and the government is considering bringing in a tax on new packaging that contains a certain amount of plastic in it. and claude produces a packaging pay for the clean—up of it at the end of its life? -- clean—up of it at the end of its life? —— could the producers of packaging pay? so the winds of change are blowing. and good local authorities improve their refuse collection and recycling so they don't have to take all the burden? absolutely. we used to export recycla ble absolutely. we used to export recyclable packaging to china and we can't do that any more so we have got to do more in the uk, but the problem is that in the uk every council across the country has different recycling rules, so there is huge consumer confusion about

what can go into the recycling and where, and that needs to be standardised if companies are going to respond across the board to theirs. we just got the new regime in tunbridge wells last week. nightmare! confused ? in tunbridge wells last week. nightmare! confused? you will be. and the packaging is all sorts of different bits and bobs and you don't know what you can recycle and what you can't. thank you for coming in. many of you have commented on this story. some of you say that this story. some of you say that this is great and others say you don't have time to check on plastic and recycling and you just go for the cheapest option in the shops. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. hundreds of thousands of people who booked holidays with thomas cook before it collapsed will be able to start applying for refunds from today. the civil aviation authority, which has spent the past fortnight bringing stranded holidaymakers home, has set up a website to deal with claims. talks to resolve a damaging strike at the us car giant gm have broken down. negotiations between general motors

and the united auto workers union stalled on sunday, with diagreement over pay and job security. so far the strike action has cost gm $1 billion in earnings. banking giant hsbc is reported to be planning a major cull. the financial times says the bank could slash up to 10,000 jobs to reduce costs. it employs almost 240,000 around the world and so far has declined to comment on the report. the general manager of the houston rockets basketball team has apologised after a tweet in support of hong kong protesters led to a chinese backlash. the coach backpedalled after fierce criticism from chinese fans, sponsors and commercial partners with chinese broadcasters saying they will would no longer broadcast rockets games. sarah toms joins us now from singapore.

careless talk costs a lot of money. yes, and the houston rockets will have to do some fancy footwork to recover from this backlash from china. the team's coach sent a tweet initially on friday that said fight for freedom initially on friday that said fight forfreedom and initially on friday that said fight for freedom and stand with hong kong. this caused a massive uproar in china. nba games draw huge viewership there and millions watch the games, mostly through streaming platforms. and since the tweet, chinese broadcasters and streaming platforms have said they will no longer broadcast rockets games. 0n sunday the chinese basketball association have also suspended cooperation with houston rockets. and also the club's sponsor in china. it is a hugely sensitive issue and hong kong had seen months of anti—government protesting. protesters say they are fighting for democracy but beijing is concerned

that the demonstrations, which have grown increasingly violent, could spill over to mainland china. thank you so much, sarah. as with these stories, you have got to follow the money ready. talking about money, how are the financial markets? it has been a rocky start for asia. ignore that hong kong number. that is not any reaction to the weekend of violence and protests which took place again in hong kong. that is friday's close, because hong kong is closed today, same with australia and china. there were quite a week in asia but we saw declines. and has europe followed suit? you may remember, if you are a market watcher on friday in the us we saw a bumper end to the stock market with many markets closing high but pretty flat in europe. what is on the minds of investors is the fact that this week we seek talks resuming between us and china on trade, and rumours coming out of china so they are not

optimistic about how they go. now to the us and mcrib season, which is a limited season when mcdonald's offer a popular pork sandwich. it has come earlier this year. why? as vivienne nunis explains, it could be thanks to the ongoing us—china trade war. officials from china and the us will meet in washington on thursday in the latest attempt to resolve the trade war. the tit—for—tat dispute has gone on for more than a year now and it hasn't gone unnoticed by consumers. take for example mcdonald's‘ decision to release its mcrib pork sandwich on monday. the popular menu item is released for a limited time in the us each autumn. this year it's coming out several weeks early. social media chatter points to the trade war. china slapped import taxes on american pork in retaliation to us tariffs in 2018, leading to a pork glut here in the us and, so the theory goes, more mcribs.

there's another possibility too — relevance. mcdonald's has been making a big push to attract more customers lately. it recently invested in drive—through technology that updates menus according to the time of day and even the weather. but the us fast food market is increasingly competitive and seasonal items get customers excited. so whether it's the trade war orjust old—fashioned marketing, mcrib season is upon us. time now for our daily look beyond the headlines. we're joined by consumer journalist, columnist and broadcaster harry wallop. very good to see you here. good morning. shall i start with this? very good to see you here. good morning. shalli start with this? i don't mind. go for it, david. you picked this story out of the sunday times. yes, but it has been picked up times. yes, but it has been picked up by times. yes, but it has been picked up by various websites and papers this morning. an investigation into amazon warehouses particularly in the uk, and how many ambulance call—outs there were to workers in distress, ill, falling off ladders, cases of electric shock. they looked

at the last three years and 11 of the warehouses with a freedom of information request. there were 606 call—outs, and one particular warehouse in bedfordshire just call—outs, and one particular warehouse in bedfordshirejust north of london. 95 times from 2016 to august this year. amazon of course say this is far lower than the national average. their workplaces are very safe. but the sunday times did compare that one particular warehouse where there had been 95 call—outs, 1800 workers, are very similar number of people working at the bridgend ford motor plant in wales, and i think that was 19 ambulance call—outs. and ricardo, similar number of workers, lots of robots, and only three ambulance call—outs. —— 0cado. robots, and only three ambulance call-outs. -- 0cado. and thisjust adds fuel to the fire because there have been investigations into work

in an amazon warehouse and we are coming up to this season, christmas sales. and you have been to one. there is a robotics factoryjust outside manchester, near the airport. in the one hand it is hugely impressive and very slick. but it is clearly hard work. you think it is easy to pick a book and put it in a crate but all the workers wear safety gloves because they are shoving their hands into these robotic wardrobes with all the stuff going round, and they are all monitored with cameras everywhere. amazon say this is to improve efficiency and for the safety of the workers, but there is no doubt that some workers feel under pressure. interesting story. let's look at something the guardian is discussing today, saudi arabia's push to increase it as a popular destination forforeign increase it as a popular destination for foreign travellers. this is fascinating because saudi arabia is not top of my list of places to visit as a tourist but they have

just announced that you can stay in hotel room as tourist if you are not married, you can share a hotel room, which previously was not allowed and you had to prove you were married to share a hotel room. they have got work to do in terms of the image of saudi arabia at the moment and yet at the same time they have a guy, mbs, who has started to push change especially for women. yes, and women can now drive and also travel abroad without permission from a male guardian. it seems astonishing that wasn't allowed before. tourism is very much part of the policy. can saudi arabia survive in a post—oil age and they are building fanfares and enormous skyscrapers which they hope will bring in tourists. —— fun fairs. they hope to double the number of tourists. and you buy is right there, with a huge tourism market. and there is a tourism twitter account in saudi arabia now, opening its doors and hearts to the

world, according to the advert. just a touch of cynicism! thank you. tell us. a touch of cynicism! thank you. tell us. would you go? hashtag worklife isa us. would you go? hashtag worklife is a way to get in touch. we know that playing is bad for the planet but what about the rubbish we produce when we are in the air? we will look at new research into how to eliminate mile high single use wrappers and plastics on the headphones. this is worklife from bbc news. nearly three quarters of drivers want councils to take action against motorists who leave the engine running while their car is parked, according to new rac research. only a handful of councils use existing powers to hand out £20 fines. joining us now is nicholas lyes, head of roads policy at the rac.

is this realistic? goodness knows how many keep their engine ticking over. i hope it is realistic because the legislation is already in place. so section 42 to other road traffic act 1988 specifically outlaws unnecessary engine idling and there is actually a determination and a well from drivers to ask for councils to enforce this. we know that local authorities are under a lot of financial pressures but civil enforcement officers could look at this as part of their scope. as david points out, civil enforcement officers are extremely busy and under enormous pressure, and some might say this is not high on the priority list. well, i would argue that drivers now see engine idling and air quality issues as increasingly important areas. certainly when you look at what is going on in our towns and cities, we do have air quality problems. pollution has been linked to around 40,000 deaths. certainly something

needs to be done about it. what we are saying is that drivers want to see councils taking action against unnecessary engine idling. the lower that the legislation is that so councils really have an opportunity here to seize. —— the law and the legislation is here. do you need to seize uncertain opportunities, if we can put it that way, like the school gates? you cannot monitor it on every road and every street. yes, thatis every road and every street. yes, that is absolutely the case, i think. certainly there will be hotspots which local authorities should be focusing on. we would like to see it outside schools and hospitals, and in some city centre locations around the shops and perhaps car parks as well. these are typically areas with the highest footfall, so there will be more people breathing in this poor air quality. but it is also important

from the point of view of the driver. sorry to interrupt you but we have to leave it there. nicholas from the rac. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story: one of the world's biggest consumer consumer products companies, unilever, has pledged to halve its use of new plastics by 2025. i'm looking at this story, i am amazed by all the things they make and the stuff that we use. in plastic bottles! and other types of packaging. now for many, juggling careers with family life can feel like a constant battle. i have no idea what you are talking about! for me! -- poor me!

in the uk alone, a recent poll found around 13 million working parents are grappling with getting the balance right. our next guest helen tupper says she can help. she's the co—founder of amazing if, which works with organisations and individuals focussing on career development. welcome to the programme. 0ne welcome to the programme. one of the elements is squiggling career. what is that? we used to talk about the staircase career, where people used to progress up the ladder in a linear fashion. to progress up the ladder in a linearfashion. but the reality to progress up the ladder in a linear fashion. but the reality of careers today is that there is a lot more change and fluidity in them. they are moving in and out of roles, industries, and organisations much more frequently. we call that their squiggly career, the reality is that requires a different skill set to find the work that works for you.

lot of people who start out in what you might call a career are hugely ambitious. they want to do more than might seem sensible when you are a bit older and that sets the tone that everyone else has got to try and match. absolutely and organisations want to harness that ambition, and that is a fantastic thing for organisations. the challenge is when we try to create a one size fits all career or way of working, when actually people are seeking a more individual way of working, such as flexible work, types of role they want to do, moving from full—time to part—time to contracts. careers have been disrupted for some years now and working flexibly and having the worklife balance has been talked about for a long time. so for him is it really a reality? i think working pa rents. it really a reality? i think working parents. it is a reality for everybody seeking this. but it is not for everyone, is it? when you think about the amazon workers in the factory where the number of ambulance call—outs is higher than in otherfactories, for ambulance call—outs is higher than

in other factories, for example. the reality is that everybody is looking for this. for some people it is easierfor them to get for this. for some people it is easier for them to get it than others. if you are in a very progressive organisation which already has great work like policies, that is fantastic. but i ama policies, that is fantastic. but i am a trustee for the working families charity, and two thirds of low income workers are calling our support line, and it is harderfor them to get the support they need, which is why we love people so much change in policy to support gig workers and low income workers. that is the point. flexible working works really well for many big organisations if it suits them and thatis organisations if it suits them and that is what they are interested in, making it fit for them rather than those who come in on short—term contracts, do thejob those who come in on short—term contracts, do the job and move along. i think that organisations can work for both parties, where they can understand the needs of the employees and how they can do their best work, that takes confidence and awareness from the individual, and where they have the policy, where

the two places meet, that is where it gets really powerful. policy being implemented, that gets away from taking work individual and into one size fits all. it is notjust about parents. a lot of the statistics are about the fact that most statistics are about the fact that m ost pa re nts statistics are about the fact that most parents want to work flexibly but only less than half achieve that. people want to work flexibly because they want to pursue other careers or they are starting a business or they are looking after elderly relatives. there are all kinds of circumstances. exactly that and that is why we need to be listening. national worklife week is all about listening and people are coming at it with different needs and we can't have one policy for everybody. employers and employees need to have transparent and open conversations about what is working today and what could change to make it work for everybody.” today and what could change to make it work for everybody. i hope you get it right, helen. we would both agree that we spend our lives feeling that we don't and it is an

impossible never—ending curve. we spent a lot of play that they often smash, i have to say, if i am honest. —— we spent a lot of plates and they often smash. worklife balance, could yours be better? let us balance, could yours be better? let us know. what about all that rubbish that we use when we are in the air. a new exhibition is trying to find inventive ways to cut back on that. let's take a look. we've looked at how we can use by—products to create items that were otherwise plastic. so the meal tray itself is actually created from coffee grounds.

we've looked at things such as the lid for the dessert dish, made out of the waffle cone that you would have an ice cream in. what we are really keen to do is say, look, where a flight might be coming from america where they've also got quite strict standards on food and plant health, we should be able to recycle more of that look at all that stuff we use on an aeroplane! terrifying. we have been talking about worklife balance and in the uk it is national worklife week. thank you for getting in

touch. phill mcclelland says: i work three and a half days a week with the other one and a half being spent as a parent. weekends are always with the family. great balance. ben morris says: i fight with it every day, knowing what's right, when to turn off the phone and computer. but modern day tech makes it so much easier — especially managing a company in a different country. what does the technology make it worse? and we asked you if you think about company policy when it comes to plastic and that environmental policy in terms of where you shop and what you buy. garrett says: to be honest, no. if! and what you buy. garrett says: to be honest, no. if i am getting a good deal i don't look at environmental policy. it is the first thing on my mind before i purchase. and this one: supply chains are so complex i doubt any company chains are so complex i doubt any com pa ny really chains are so complex i doubt any company really knows what its environmental policy is. that is a very good point. it is just getting

into our consciousness, gradually and awareness of certain things. that's it from worklife today and we will see you tomorrow. goodbye for now. good morning. many of us experienced huge amounts of rainfall over the weekend, particularly in norfolk where there was a huge amount of rainfall which led to flooding issues. look at one of our weather watches photos from the weekend. more rain is in the forecast spreading eastwards with gusty wind, all because of this area of low pressure, quite a deeply moving closer towards iceland. you can see the weather front associated with that bringing the rain this morning. and i mentioned the gusty winds. these other gusts, up to 50 or 60

mph in western scotland but quite widely 30 to 35 mph with the rain moving east. the rain pushes into east anglia and the south—east of england and it could lead onto flooding issues today in central areas with the rain lasting for much of the day. further west drier and brighter with some showers moving on. there is other temperature today. the average for this time of year. through tonight, that rain clears away to the south—east. they're the showers are feed in behind that. clear skies going into tuesday morning. that showers across western areas merge into longer spells of rain with weather fronts coming out of this area of low pressure moving further north and eastwards. we could see heavy and even phoned downpours for a time on tuesday, especially towards scotland and northern ireland. bands of showers moving south eastwards with sunny spells in between but again a gusty day. wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph in northern areas. stronger

gusts in england and wales with temperatures 14 to 17. then for the rest of the week, this area of low pressure is still there or thereabouts in the north of the uk. there the weather fronts moving through. 0rganised bands of rain which will move through across the uk. on wednesday, particularly for western scotland, and northern ireland, the showers pushed south eastwards, with sunny spells in between the showers. maximum temperatures on wednesday of 13 to 15, down by a degree or so, just below average for this time of year. even into the weekend there will be further spells of rain and showers and some sunny spells. gusty winds associated with that as well. i think we could sum it up as fairly typical 0ctober weather.

you're watching bbc news at 9:00am, with me, carrie gracie. the headlines... american businesswoman jennfer arcuri refuses to say whether she had a relationship with borisjohnson when he was mayor of london. just for the record, you're not denying it? i'm not answering. that's my record. the prime minister will call european leaders after a warning by the french president that the eu will decide by the end of the week whether a brexit deal is possible. pressure increases on the us to return a diplomat‘s wife who's implicated in the death of a teenager in a car crash. the final thomas cook passengers return home this morning, two weeks after the package tour company collapsed. coming up, the hidden condition affecting thousands of women across the uk. mps launch an inquiry

into the devastating