Black Entrepreneur Leading Innovation in Canada’s Zero Waste Industry

Russell Zishiri, founder and CEO of Anaconda Systems Limited

What Anaconda Systems Limited is doing in Vancouver is impossible to find anywhere else in North America. Typically, composting on this scale happens on industrial sites outside of the city where the waste is produced. The company's founder and CEO Russell Zishiri is on a mission to change that. 
*“We’re the only commercial composting facility in a North American city that's located downtown,” the company’s founder and CEO says. “Our technology allowed us to get this kind of permitting.”
Anaconda is a cleantech company founded in Vancouver in 2015 by Russell Zishiri. Using a patented pre-treatment and in-vessel digestion process, Anaconda Systems Ltd. converts organic waste to fertilizer in under 10 days. The pre-treatment process is the result of years of research to thoroughly and efficiently remove contaminants and homogenize the organic material for consistent, trouble-free digestion. The in-vessel digester monitors and controls the optimal aerobic environment creating the perfect conditions for the rapid breakdown of organic waste. The result is a richer, cleaner soil amendment in just 96 hours without any mechanical agitation.
“Less trucks on the road, less greenhouse gasses, less congestion – and then, for our customers, it saves them capital investment,” Russell says. “The idea is to have all the material that’s generated in Vancouver stay in Vancouver.”
Russell was named among Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2020. His journey as an entrepreneur was marked with the same persistence seen in the stories of many other Black business owners. Now, his company brings in over $1M in annual revenue, even garnering the attention of Honourable Minister Harjit S. Sajjan, minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan). Last year, Russell’s Anaconda Systems was the recipient of $2.5M in PacifiCan funding, helping the company scale up its operations as they market the company’s innovative solution across North America. Anaconda Systems intends to construct and operate 50 plants in North America by 2035.
According to the United Nations, if food waste was its own country, it would be the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. Domestically, Canadians produce an estimated 720 kg of waste per capita. Total revenues for Canadian businesses in the waste management industry reached $8.2B in 2018, up from $7.7B in 2016. As municipalities look to reduce their carbon footprint, innovation is key – positioning companies like Anaconda Systems for continued growth.
Beyond expansion across the continent, the Vancouver-based startup is taking it’s game-changing technology to Japan, partnering with Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd., one of Japan’s leading producers and suppliers of energy, to explore establishing a large-scale compost production business using organic waste as a raw material. Particularly in Japan, which relies on imports for much of the raw material used in chemical fertilizer production, rising costs for chemical fertilizer materials has a significant impact on food production. Increasing domestic production of organic fertilizer is necessary to both realize a low-carbon society and ensure the stability of food production.
“Through collaboration with Anaconda, we aim to contribute to decarbonization, stable food production, and regional revitalization in Japan,” IAH President and CEO Motohiro Suzuki says. “Over the longer term, we are looking to expand this business to the Asian region as a solution for the issues facing society.”
“The Idemitsu and Anaconda partnership will sustain communities today and into the future,” adds Zishiri. “We expect our collaboration in Japan will continue to grow, into various Asian markets to realize the goal of a low carbon society.”