HP is donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to improve the disposal of e-waste in four African countries, the company announced today.

The hardware vendor has partnered with two non-governmental organisations - the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) and the Swiss Institute for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) - to address the growing problem of responsible disposal of electronic waste.

The first step is a pilot project in South Africa, said Empa project manager Mathias Schluep.

'We want to define common standards and methodologies for recycling e-waste and train local consultants,' he said.

There are many informal and unofficial recyclers of e-waste in Africa but the majority operate without regulation. The HP-backed scheme will work with existing e-waste recyclers to improve practices.

The partnership will also look at assessing the e-waste problems in Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya with a view to putting similar projects in place.

HP is keen to stress that the initiative will not try to tackle the problem of illegal shipping to Africa, it will only deal with waste produced in the countries themselves.