Office Depot Announces ''Green Book'' Catalog.

Business Editors

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 2003

Sets Milestone as First Catalog Exclusive to Environmentally

Preferable Products Printed on Elemental Chlorine Free

100% PCW Recycled Paper

Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), one of the world's largest resellers of office products, is coloring the New Year green with the launch of The Green Book, the industry's first catalog consisting solely of environmentally preferable products that is printed on elemental chlorine free, 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled content paper.

The catalog will be available to Office Depot's Business Services Division contract customers in time for the New Year and will contain more than 1,000 products ranging from paper and filing to storage, dated goods and machine supplies.

"We are pleased to be the first in our industry to provide an easy-to-use, streamlined and environmentally responsible vehicle for our customers to purchase products containing recycled content," said Tyler Elm, Director of Environmental Affairs for Office Depot. "This is another great advance in Office Depot's commitment to helping our customers improve their company's environmental sustainability and helping them make their own office an 'office for the environment'."

Elm noted that "as the industry leader in environmental stewardship, it is important for Office Depot to communicate the scope of our environmentally friendly product offerings to our customers in a manner that substantially conserves natural resources."

According to Elm, compared to catalogs printed on virgin paper, the 100 percent post-consumer recycled content paper used for The Green Book:

-- is 44% more energy efficient;

-- resulted in 37% fewer greenhouse gas emissions;

-- generated half as much solid waste and water effluent; and

-- required no new trees to be cut down.

Further, because The Green Book is printed on paper made entirely from PCW recycled fiber manufactured without using elemental chlorine, Office Depot conserved the following resources:

-- 275 fully grown trees

-- 116,900 gallons of water

-- 193 million BTU's of energy

-- 12,400 pounds of solid waste

-- 24,000 pounds of CO2 greenhouse gasses, and

-- 800 pounds of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) waterborne waste.

To put this into perspective, Elm noted that:

-- The 275 trees conserved by printing on recycled paper absorb

the carbon released by 475 cars in a year - driven 15,000

miles each.

-- The water conserved by printing on recycled paper is equal to

the amount consumed each day by 1,800 people.

-- The energy saved by printing on recycled paper is equivalent

to 1,544 gallons of gasoline - or the amount of energy used

each day by 2,000 people.

-- The waste reduced by using recycled paper is equivalent to the

trash discarded each day by nearly 3,000 people.

-- The green-house gasses not emitted into the air because of the

use of recycled paper are equivalent to permanently taking an

SUV off the road.

"The creation of The Green Book is Office Depot's latest reinforcement of the company's recycling and pollution reduction initiatives, and is an excellent example of the steps we are taking to promote and develop markets for environmentally sound products," Elm concluded.

About Office Depot

With annual sales of nearly $13 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 22 countries and employs nearly 50,000 people worldwide.

Office Depot is an industry 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 - on target to generate $2.5B in sales for FY'03. In North America, Office Depot has more than 870 retail stores in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 24 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.