Recycling is key to Spartan's affordable technology operation

An estimated 9.5 million people – nearly 20% of the UK population – lack the basic online skills needed to send and receive email, use a search engine, browse the internet or complete online forms.

Spartan aims to help by refurbishing technology that would otherwise have been thrown away and selling it on to people who might otherwise have been unable to afford a computer.

More than one million tonnes of electrical items are thrown away in the UK each year and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is the fastest growing waste stream in Europe with more than 60 per cent still going to landfill.

Spartan Recycling and Remarketing, founded in 2011, has grown to more than 10 employees and plans to increase the workforce by more than 20 per cent during the current financial year, making it one of the largest WEEE reuse facilities in the West Midlands.

This will involve taking on two apprentices and developing an infrastructure for online sales via eBay, Amazon and Play.com as well as the company's own e-commerce site which is due to launch on September 19. Chris Pattihis, director of Spartan Recycling & Remarketing as well as Spartan Outlet, said: "It's amazing how much technology is thrown away; we collect on average more than 2,000 items every month. Once the tech is wiped clean and refurbished, the quality of the product is incredible. Customers always comment that it's hard to believe such items have been thrown away. I am delighted with what we have achieved as a business in such a tough economical climate, but I am even more proud of the service that we offer. It's so satisfying to be able to offer affordable tech to those who would have otherwise been digitally excluded."

The company regularly collects unwanted technology from NHS trusts, local authorities, households and businesses up and down the country and refurbishes it where possible.