Office Depot Commemorates Five Years of Environmental Policy Leadership with Recognition by Environmental Organizations

Groups Celebrate Company’s Long Standing Environmental Paper Policy and Practices

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(EON:Enhanced Online News)--Office Depot® (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today celebrated five years of environmental leadership in the industry, which began with the Company’s all-encompassing environmental policy. Spring 2008 marks the five year anniversary of the Company’s announcement pledging its commitment to develop an environmental program touching all aspects of Office Depot’s business, ranging from the paper products purchased and recycling solutions offered to the daily operations at the Company’s corporate offices, warehouses and retail stores.

“paper - EnviroCopy 100% - and continue to be impressed by Office Depot's commitment to independent verification, transparency and support of recycled products to help solve our environmental issues.”

Today, Office Depot continues to be recognized as a trailblazer and environmental leader within the office products industry for its commitment to sustainability and its environmental vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green. Office Depot’s achievements and successes within the industry have been supported by a range of environmental organizations.

Conservation International Recognizes Office Depot for Environmental Paper Policy:

“When it comes to conservation of forests and biodiversity, Office Depot’s Environmental Paper Procurement Policy sets the industry standard. The policy has provided powerful encouragement for forest owners and managers to protect endangered species and habitats. Office Depot’s leadership has also contributed to the strengthening of conservation provisions within the major forest certification programs. By combining preferences for certified paper products with investments in conservation science and supply chain tools, Office Depot has helped ensure that the marketplace does not lose sight of the forests for the trees.”

-- Justin Ward, Vice President, Business Practices, Conservation International

ForestEthics Case Study Recognizes Office Depot for Long Standing APP Policy:

In 2004, Office Depot ended its cut sheet paper contracts with Asian Pulp and Paper because of concerns about the company’s environmental practices. This commitment was reiterated in 2006 and Office Depot continues to stand by its policy by removing APP fiber if discovered in its supply chain.

-- Cited in ForestEthics case study.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Recognizes Office Depot for Independent Verification of Environmental Data:

“Office Depot has taken a true leadership role by obtaining independent third-party assurance to ensure the credibility of environmental and other data in its 2003, 2005 and 2007 Environmental Reports.”

-- Bruce McIntyre, Leader of the Sustainable Business Solutions Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers

Jeff Mendelsohn, Founder of New Leaf Paper, Recognizes Office Depot for Assortment of Recycled Paper:

"Based on my observations of the office products sector, Office Depot shows the strongest track record and current position in terms of number of recycled content offerings. We are proud to supply Office Depot its "darkest green" paper - EnviroCopy 100% - and continue to be impressed by Office Depot's commitment to independent verification, transparency and support of recycled products to help solve our environmental issues."

-- Jeff Mendelsohn, Founder, New Leaf Paper

About Office Depot’s Environmental Commitment

With an environmental vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green, Office Depot has established itself as the clear market leader in terms of its longstanding paper purchasing policy, carbon footprint reduction as well as the number of recycled products for resale. Office Depot’s achievements and leadership stances in each respective area have included the following:

Paper Purchasing Policy

• In 2004, Office Depot became the first major office products company to publicly announce it had cut contracts with Asia Pulp & Paper and implement a policy commitment to not source from AP&P until the company provided strong evidence of sustainable forestry.
• In 2007, became the first office supply company to make Forest Stewardship Council Certified virgin copy paper widely available in the United States. Office Depot has committed to sourcing more FSC-Certified paper in the future and has already transitioned over 20 percent of our catalog and insert paper.

Carbon Footprint Reduction

• In 2008, became first retailer to achieve Volume Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) pre-certification from the United States Green Building Council for its store prototype design.
• Reduced carbon dioxide emissions in facilities (retail stores and warehouses) by an absolute 10.1 percent by retrofitting the lighting in nearly all of our store locations to energy-efficient T5 lighting and upgrading our energy management systems in 2006.
• In 2006, began transitioning fleet of delivery vehicles to Sprinter vans, which are 40 percent more fuel efficient. This led to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 9.5 percent.

Recycled Products for Resell

• Provide more products with recycled content to our customers than any other company in the office supply industry. Office Depot offers over 4,000 products with recycled content – all of which are available on www.officedepot.com/buygreen.
• Achieved 32.7 percent average post-consumer recycled (PCR) content in the paper used at the Company’s global headquarters, and 30 percent average PCR in its Design, Print & Ship Depot centers located within each retail store.
• Became industry’s only Company to have environmental claims independently reviewed and verified by a third party – PricewaterhouseCoopers. The claims are included in Office Depot’s 2006 Corporate Citizenship Report, available at www.officedepot.com/corporatecitizenship.

A complete overview of Office Depot’s environmental programs is available here.

About Office Depot

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through more than 1,600 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.9 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.5 billion, and employs about 49,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 43 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com. Press materials and background information specific to Office Depot’s environmental initiatives is available online at http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment.