Office Depot, the only global office products and services provider currently included in the index, joins a distinguished list of companies from Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America who have met these more stringent standards. Office Depot is the first company in its industry to meet FTSE Group’s enhanced environmental requirements, which come into full effect in January 2006.

“Office Depot is honored to be recognised by the FTSE Group for our commitment to environmental responsibility, transparency and accountability,” said Tyler Elm, Office Depot’s Director of Environmental Affairs. “We remain focused on driving shareholder value by helping our customers achieve their business objectives in a way that demonstrates a shared responsibility toward environmental stewardship.”

Jerry Moskowitz, Managing Director, FTSE Americas, added: “The FTSE4Good Index is not only designed to provide a tool for identifying and investing in companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards, but also to contribute to the development of responsible worldwide business practices. We are delighted that Office Depot’s environmental reporting, management and policies continue to reflect a consistent commitment to corporate social responsibility.”

According to Moskowitz, companies are assessed against the FTSE4Good selection criteria by the independent Ethical Investment Research Service, which researched both the U.S. and European-based Office Depot operations during their assessment.

Office Depot, also listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, focuses its environmental initiatives on sustainable forest management, recycling and pollution reduction, as well as driving awareness of environmental issues and creating markets for environmentally preferable products.

According to Elm, Office Depot is the only office supply company producing an independently verified Environmental Stewardship Report. Audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Report provides an overview of the Company’s environmental performance and initiatives and may be downloaded by visiting www.officedepot.com/environment.

Beyond its industry-leading 35% post-consumer waste content paper, Office Depot offers thousands of products containing recycled materials. In January 2005, the company issued its Green Book catalogue of environmentally-friendly products to U.S. contract customers. The 84% increase in environmentally-preferable products highlighted in the 2005 edition, includes paper; pens; energy efficient computer displays, printers and light bulbs; toner cartridges; and biodegradable packing materials.

The Green Book itself is the only environmentally preferable office products catalogue printed on elemental chlorine-free 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper and is distributed to more than 40,000 organisations to easily help “green” their office supply purchasing process.

FTSE4Good is a series of real-time indexes designed to reflect the performance of socially responsible equities. The series covers the UK, European, Japanese, U.S. and global markets, and consists of four tradable and five benchmark indexes. Independent socially responsible investment (SRI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practitioners regularly review the indexes to ensure they accurately reflect current CSR best practices.

About Office Depot

With annual sales of more than $12 billion, no one sells more office supplies to more customers in more countries than Office Depot. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, FL, the company conducts business in 23 countries and employs nearly 50,000 people worldwide.

Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel – from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. The company is the world’s number two online retailer – generating $2.6B in sales for FY’03.  In North America, Office Depot has 900 retail stores in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales offices and 13 regional call centers. 

The company’s common stock is traded 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.