A raft of media outlets today are incorrectly reporting that UK supermarket chain Tesco is eliminating 350 million tonnes of plastics from the environment by removing shrink-wrap from its multipacks.

Tesco has confirmed that it will remove the wrap from tinned multipacks, which will eliminate 67 million pieces of plastics, or 350 tonnes.

The BBC reported the incorrect figure on its Breakfast News today, but within minutes started citing the correct figure. However, an online search identifies a large number of other news sources have followed suit by reporting the wrong information.

Tesco has committed to remove one billion pieces of plastics from its own brand products by the end of 2020. This latest move applies to both its own brand products and branded ones, such as Heinz Beanz.

Tesco and the BBC were approached for comment.