Office Depot Director of Environmental Strategy Recognized with ‘Responsible Purchaser of the Year’ Award

Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today announced that the Company’s Director of Environmental Strategy, Yalmaz Siddiqui, was recognized by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), an influential network of buyers focused on socially responsible and environmentally sustainable purchasing, as "Responsible Purchaser of the Year.”

A panel of judges comprised of green purchasing professionals selected four individuals and organizations from among more than 200 organizational members of the Responsible Purchasing Network. These individuals were honored for their outstanding commitment to using the power of purchasing to advance social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The awards were presented at the Seattle Green Festival on March 28, 2009.

According to Chris O’Brien, Senior Director of the Responsible Purchasing Network, "Yalmaz’s work developing the 2009 Office Depot Green Book catalog of green office products demonstrates his extraordinary commitment to advancing sustainable procurement. Yalmaz sought RPN input for the standards and specifications portion of the new Green Book and then implemented many of our key recommendations. Yalmaz’s approach on behalf of Office Depot, reflects corporate best practices in stakeholder engagement, green product definition and green marketing.”

The 2009 Green Book acknowledged by RPN is Office Depot’s fifth annual catalog of environmentally preferable products and contains over 2,200 of Office Depot’s "greenest products.” Siddiqui was instrumental in designing the catalog, defining the stringent specifications for product inclusion, and writing the educational content to help readers understand what is green, and why and how to go green at the office.

"This award is a true honor,” said Siddiqui. "The other recipients are pioneers in the world of green purchasing, and to be recognized among this group is humbling. What’s important to note however is that although this award is for individuals, we all rely on supportive organizations that enable us to achieve our goals. Office Depot, and its merchandising and marketing teams in particular, deserve much of the credit for this award.”

About the Responsible Purchasing Network

The Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN) is an international network of buyers dedicated to socially responsible and environmentally sustainable purchasing. Our membership program and consulting services provide institutional purchasers with cutting edge procurement tools and resources designed to save money, conserve resources, reduce waste, and improve efficiency. Visit RPN at www.responsiblepurchasing.org.

About Yalmaz Siddiqui

Yalmaz Siddiqui is Office Depot's Director of Environmental Strategy. He is responsible for advising the company on the development and integration of a wide range of environmental programs into the global organization.

Office Depot's industry-leading environmental programs span all parts of the company - from the supply chain (buying green) to internal operations (being green), to business and consumer markets (selling green). Siddiqui's role includes improving the understanding of environmental issues and opportunities among suppliers, associates and customers. His goal is to help improve the environmental performance of Office Depot and its range of stakeholders.

Siddiqui also oversees Office Depot's five-year, $2.2 million Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance (www.forestryalliance.org), which develops critical information, standards and tools for global forest and biodiversity conservation. The Alliance is Office Depot's collaboration with Conservation International, NatureServe and The Nature Conservancy, three of the world's most respected science-based conservation organizations.

Siddiqui came to Office Depot in April of 2006 from IBM Business Consulting Services in Canada where he was a Senior Consultant in Customer Relationship Management, and author of the first global study on environmental procurement of wood and paper products. Before joining IBM, Siddiqui was a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he focused on the forest, paper and packaging industries.

Siddiqui holds a Master's Degree in Environment & Development from Cambridge University in England, and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing & International Business from McGill University in Canada.

About Office Depot

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,713 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.8 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $14.5 billion, and employs about 43,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 48 countries.

Office Depot’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. Media materials specific to Office Depot’s environmental initiatives are available at http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment.

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