Office Depot Receives Climate Leadership Award from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced that it has been recognized with a Climate Leadership Goal Achievement Award for Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Center for Corporate Climate Leadership, the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate & Energy Solutions (C2ES), and The Climate Registry (The Registry).

“Office Depot and all our Climate Leadership Award winners are reducing harmful carbon pollution, increasing efficiency and cutting waste at the same time.”

The awards were presented during the Climate Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. on February 28, to recognize and encourage exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in reducing carbon pollution and addressing climate change.

“I commend Office Depot for its exemplary commitment and dedication to tackling the challenge of climate change,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "Office Depot and all our Climate Leadership Award winners are reducing harmful carbon pollution, increasing efficiency and cutting waste at the same time.”

The Goal Achievement Award recognizes organizations that publicly report and verify Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventories and achieve aggressive reduction goals. In 2010, in collaboration with EPA’s former Climate Leaders program, Office Depot adopted a goal of reducing U.S. GHG emissions by 20 percent by 2012, with 2007 as a baseline year. By the end of 2011, Office Depot had achieved a 29 percent reduction in the U.S. versus its baseline year.

“Office Depot recognizes that taking action on climate change is good for business and good for the environment,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Senior Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “We’ve made a series of fiscally sound investments in energy efficiency that have far exceeded our investment performance requirements, delivered rapid ROI, and reduced our carbon footprint substantially. By achieving our carbon reduction goal, we’ve proven again that there doesn’t need to be a conflict between economic and environmental goals -- you just have to choose to invest in the right things.”

Under the leadership of Ed Costa, Vice President of Construction for Office Depot, the company has chosen to make numerous energy efficiency investments, including but not limited to:

De-lamping one out of every three bulbs in tens of thousands of fixtures across more than 1,000 stores, while maintaining similar light output by adding reflectors above the remaining two bulbs
Installing motion detectors in warehouses, stores and business offices
Upgrading heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
Using Big Ass Fans® in select locations to reduce air conditioning requirements
Participating in load shedding programs with utilities in numerous jurisdictions
Centrally controlling energy across the U.S. with an Energy Management System

In addition to helping achieve its carbon reduction goal one year ahead of schedule, these efforts helped Office Depot achieve the following extraordinary results:

An 84 percent Internal Rate of Return (IRR) from the $8M de-lamping/reflectors project
A reduction in electricity use across all stores in North America from 625,000 MWh in 2007 to 433,000 MWh in 2011 – a drop of 31 percent, while facilities under management dropped just 8 percent
A reduction in electricity costs across all stores in North America from $56M in 2007 to $46M in 2011
A reduction in natural gas use across all stores in North America from 361,000 mmBTUs in 2007 to 326,000 mmBTUs in 2011

This is the latest significant recognition received by Office Depot for environmental leadership. The company has been ranked America’s #1 Greenest Large Retailer by Newsweek for three consecutive years: 2010, 2011 and 2012.

About Office Depot

Office Depot provides office supplies and services through 1,629 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs, and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $10.7 billion, employs about 38,000 associates, and serves customers in 59 countries around the world.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://news.officedepot.com.