News Release

Twenty-Eight Out Of 17,000 Evaluated Organizations Awarded for Exemplary Environmental Purchasing

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2013-- Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced its recent award winners for leadership in greener purchasing. For the past seven years, the Company has publicly recognized a small group of its contract customers who proactively seek out products with environmental attributes and ecolabels. For 2013, the following 28 organizations were selected out of 17,000 customers evaluated:

Leadership in Greener Purchasing Awards: For high overall greener purchasing vs. peers

• American Realty Advisors: Real Estate Services Sector
• Best Western International: Hospitality Sector
• Cate School: School Sector
• City of Fort Collins: Local Government Sector
• Comerica: Financial Sector
• Cottingham & Butler: Insurance Sector
• DLA Piper: Legal Sector
• Google: Technology Sector
• General Services Administration: Federal Sector
• Home Box Office: Entertainment Sector
• JM Family Enterprises: Automotive Sector
• M&T Bank: Financial Sector
• Merced Union School District: School District Sector
• Metropolitan Community College: Community College Sector
• Missouri Department of Mental Health: State Agency Sector
• Pizza Fusion: Small Business (SMB) Sector
• Saatchi & Saatchi North America: Services Sector
• Screen Actors Guild: Non-Profit Sector
• State of Washington (Dept. of Enterprise Services): State Sector
• Western Michigan University: University Sector

Special Recognition Awards: For leadership in a specific aspect of greener purchasing

• Anixter: Dark Green Purchasing
• Henry Schein: LEED-Related Purchasing
• Hillsborough County Public Schools: Remanufactured Toner Purchasing
• Hilton Worldwide: Environmental Engagement
• JPMorgan Chase: Certified Paper Sourcing
• Pine Jog Elementary School: Environmental Education
• Southwest Airlines: Inclusive Purchasing
• University of Pennsylvania: Green Spend Analysis

The leadership awards were based primarily on the percentage of the customers' expenditure on products with greener attributes including recycled; remanufactured; energy-efficient; non-toxic; and/or ecolabels such as FSC, EPEAT, GREENGUARD, GreenSeal, EcoLogo, etc. with Office Depot in 2012. Customers whose business relationship with Office Depot was based primarily on one or two product categories were excluded to ensure recognition was given to those with broad-based greener purchasing programs. The special recognition awards were based on specific aspects of a customer’s purchasing program or leadership in greening certain product categories.

“Our winners are an elite group at the forefront of purchasing practice in the 21st century,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Senior Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “We know that office products are an ‘indicator category’ since organizations with leading environmentally preferable purchasing programs often start by greening their paper, toner, technology and other workplace products. Our award winners have shown real effort to reduce their environmental footprints through sourcing – and often save money while doing so.”

The awards were presented at Office Depot’s Greener Purchasing Summit & Awards Ceremony in Boca Raton, Florida. Preceding the Awards Ceremony, Office Depot hosted a summit featuring several national experts in purchasing and environmental sustainability. Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor of GreenBiz Group, hosted the Summit; the Keynote Speaker was Nancy Gillis, former Director of Federal Acquisition Service for the US General Services Administration (GSA); and featured speakers included Bruce Starr, Vice President of Sourcing & Procurement Services for JPMorgan Chase and Jason Pearson, Executive Director of the Sustainable Purchasing Council.

"Office Depot’s Leadership in Greener Purchasing Summit & Awards Ceremony gives us a terrific opportunity to connect with our customers and talk to them about all of the solutions that we offer to help support their environmental goals," said Steve Calkins, Senior Vice President, Business Solutions Division at Office Depot. "We’re proud of these leading organizations, and hope that other companies will learn from their stories and follow in their footsteps."

Please click here for a short video on the Leadership in Greener Purchasing Summit & Awards Ceremony. Office Depot plans to host the Summit & Awards again in 2014.

For more information about Office Depot's environmental initiatives, visit: http://officedepotcitizenship.com/planetLanding.html.

About Office Depot

Office Depot provides core office supplies, the latest technology, school essentials, copy & print services, cleaning & breakroom products, and furniture to consumers, teachers and businesses of all sizes through 1,614 worldwide retail stores, global e-commerce operations, a dedicated sales force, an inside sales organization, and top-rated catalogs. The Company has annual sales of approximately $10.7 billion, employs about 38,000 associates, and serves customers in 60 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.

Source: Office Depot, Inc.

Office Depot
Rebecca Rakitin, 561-438-1450
Rebecca.Rakitin@officedepot.com
or
Stephanie Sampiere, 561-438-2563
Stephanie.Sampiere@officedepot.com