Office Depot Environmental Executive Wins ForestLeadership Award for Enhancing Consumer/Business Environmental Awareness

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Business Editors/Environment Writers

Office Depot Environmental Executive Wins ForestLeadership Award for Enhancing Consumer/Business Environmental Awareness

Tyler Elm, Office Depot Director of Environmental Affairs, Recognized for Excellence in Communication During ForestLeadership Conference in Toronto, Canada

DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, Mar. 2 -/E-Wire/Business Wire/-- Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), one of the world's leading resellers of office products, today announced that Tyler Elm, Director of Environmental Affairs, has been recognized with the 2004 ForestLeadership Communication Award. It is one of three new awards established to honor individuals and organizations in North America committed to furthering sustainable forestry at the local, national or international level.

Elm was recognized during the ForestLeadership Conference in Toronto, Canada, on March 1, 2005. ForestLeadership is a nonprofit Canadian initiative focused on developing environmental leadership and improving sustainable forestry policies and practices.

"I am honored to receive this award from ForestLeadership," said Elm. "I have had the privilege to lead Office Depot's efforts in promoting collaborative, ethical, science-based approaches to environmental performance. Office Depot is committed to lead by example through increasing the general level of knowledge of environmental issues. This enables our customers to achieve their business objectives as well as improved environmental outcomes."

"ForestLeadership is pleased to present to Tyler Elm its first communication award," said Jean-Pierre Kiekens, who is leading the ForestLeadership initiative. "This award recognizes an individual who displays exceptional abilities in articulating and communicating ideas and concepts relating to sustainable forestry."

Elm, a specialist in competitive and environmental strategy, has consulted with the environmental industry, its customers and associated government institutions for more than a decade. A Registered Professional Biologist and member of the Applied College of Biology, Elm is also an industry specialist in ecosystem-based management application and biological diversity conservation in production forests.

Since joining Office Depot as Director of Environmental Affairs in 2003, Elm has developed and implemented Office Depot's global environmental strategy and supporting policies. He has also served as a Board Member with the Forest Practices Board of British Columbia, Canada, an independent authority that monitors forest practices and determines the province's forest-management performance, objectives and policies.

In addition to sustainable forest management, Office Depot's own environmental initiatives center on recycling and pollution reduction, as well as developing awareness of environmental issues and markets for environmentally preferable products. Beyond its industry-leading 35% post consumer waste content paper, Office Depot offers thousands of products containing recycled substances, and in 2004 added numerous new environmentally-preferable products, including Eco-Friendly Binders, which are made of 100% recyclable materials, a biodegradable cover and high-quality metal rings made of recycled steel.

In January 2005, the company issued its Green Book Catalog of Environmentally Preferable Products, the only catalog comprised of environmentally preferable office products printed on elemental chlorine-free 100% PCW recycled paper.

"Perhaps more than any other single product, paper embodies the nature of business and continues to be the most familiar and tangible medium of everyday communication," Elm commented. "Therefore, as the world's leading reseller of office paper -- a product intimately linked to global forests and biodiversity -- it is important for Office Depot to promote sustainable forestry and have policies and actions that integrate environmental concerns with the everyday world of business."

The ForestLeadership Conference will address sustainable forestry and social responsibility strategies, the increasing role of multi-stakeholder forest partnerships in North America, corporate lessons from partnership experiences, and partnership work conducted by conservation organizations. For more information, visit www.forestleadership.com/article.php3?id_article=24.

Editor's Note: More information regarding Office Depot's environmental initiatives can be found at www.officedepot.com/environment. Consumers or businesses may contact Office Depot regarding more information or to pass along suggestions via email at [REDACTED-EMAIL]. For more information on Forest Leadership please visit www.forestleadership.com. The news media contact for Forest Leadership is Jean-Pierre Kiekens at [REDACTED-PHONE], [REDACTED-EMAIL].

Office Depot's environmental initiatives center on three guiding principles: Recycling and Pollution Reduction; Sustainable Forest Management; and Issue Awareness and Market Development for environmentally preferable products. Office Depot was honored with the United States Chamber of Commerce's Corporate Stewardship Award for Large Companies in 2004, which recognizes businesses and chambers that have demonstrated ethical leadership and corporate stewardship. Office Depot is already the largest reseller of recycled paper and recycled content products. In addition to the company's industry-leading 35% post consumer waste content paper, Office Depot offers thousands of different products containing recycled content and added new products during 2004, including Eco-Friendly Binders which are made of 100% recyclable materials, a biodegradable cover and high-quality metal rings made of recycled steel.

With annual sales approaching $14 billion, Office Depot sells more office products to more customers in more countries than any other company. Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, Office Depot conducts business in 23 countries and employs 46,000 people worldwide. The Company operates under the Office Depot(R), Viking Office Products(R), Viking Direct(R), Guilbert(R), and Tech Depot(R) brand names.

Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel - from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. With $3.1 billion in online sales in FY'04, the Company is the world's number three Internet retailer. In North America, Office Depot has 969 retail stores in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery centers and more than 60 local sales offices. Internationally, the Company conducts wholly owned operations in 14 countries via 78 retail stores and 25 distribution centers, and operates 153 retail stores under joint venture and license arrangements in another seven countries.

The company'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.

About ForestLeadership

ForestLeadership is a nonprofit initiative focusing its activities on critical areas of leadership development, with the aim of improving sustainable forestry policies and practices. For details, visit www.ForestLeadership.com.

Brian Levine [REDACTED-EMAIL]

http://mediarelations.officedepot.com

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