International negotiations to create a legally binding treaty to stem the tide of plastic pollution ended in a stalemate on Monday — pushing talks past their initial deadline and into next year. More than 100 countries have shown support for limits on plastic manufacturing.

Very little of the world's plastic waste—about half of which comes from single-use plastics such as packaging, straws and disposable utensils—is recycled. Just 9% of the 353 million tons of plastic discarded in 2019 was recycled.

Countries have deadlocked on a United Nations treaty on plastic pollution, according to The Associated Press. The treaty, with an aim of tackling worldwide plastic pollution, faced a hurdle due to negotiators not being able to get past the question of whether it should bring down the planet’s overall plastic while also having mandatory

During the late-night meeting, countries supportive of legal obligations to cut plastic pollution refused to accept a treaty limited to voluntary measures. The treaty must take action at each stage of a plastic item’s life cycle, they asserted. That includes reducing how much plastic is made.

Delegates from close to 200 countries huddled for a week of marathon negotiations but came up short on delivering a treaty.

Negotiators working on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution for a week in South Korea won't reach an agreement and plan to resume the talks next year

Diplomats at a United Nations conference in Busan, South Korea, failed to reach agreement on the world’s first treaty to tackle plastic pollution on Sunday. They said they would reconvene in future months to try again.