The Basel Action Network, an American watchdog group that has sought to curb the export of toxic electronic waste from the United States, plans to begin a new certification and auditing program on Thursday for both recyclers and companies that generate electronic refuse.

In addition to outlining safe domestic handling and disposal practices for old televisions, computers and other electronic devices, the system would effectively bar participating recyclers from exporting toxic, nonfunctional electronic waste to developing nations. The program will compete directly with a less stringent standard recently developed by industry and the federal government that companies and recyclers say makes more economic sense.

“The U.S. has been asleep at the switch,” said Jim Puckett, the executive director of the Basel Action Network, which takes its name from the Basel Convention, an international agreement governing the handling and trade of hazardous waste, including discarded electronics. More than 165 countries have ratified the convention, but the United States has not.

Much of the debate over the handling of electronic refuse arises from the metals like lead and mercury that are used to make electronic devices. Most discarded equipment is either ported to landfills or sold into a murky global market, where it often ends up in vast and unregulated harvesting and smelting operations in poor corners of Africa and Asia. In either case, the disposal poses significant environmental and health risks.