Office Depot, Inc.

Office Depot Announces Initiative to Increase the Auditing and Verification of Paper Products

October 3, 2003

DELRAY BEACH, FL – Office Depot today announced a new initiative to increase the auditing and third-party verification of the company’s suppliers and their paper products. By examining environmental performance, Office Depot will not only ensure that the products sold by the company come from sustainably managed forests, but will help verify the amount of recycled content they contain.

“We value the contributions of our many suppliers who have worked with us to set a new standard for measurability in our industry,” said Bruce Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Office Depot. “By increasing our reliance on third-party verification, we are sending a message to our suppliers and to our customers that we believe in policies that are responsible and actions that are meaningful.”

On April 22, 2003, Office Depot released its Environmental Paper Procurement Policy, which, in addition to highlighting the company’s commitment to phase out products from forests that are rare, vulnerable and at risk, noted the company’s preference to increase the number of products containing recycled content.

“This latest initiative is designed to support the implementation of the company’s industry leading policies and to encourage and reward environmental initiatives by our suppliers,” said Tyler Elm, Director of Environmental Affairs for Office Depot and leader of the company’s Office for the Environment.

According to Elm, the new policy states that Office Depot will:

Rely on independent auditing and verification of our paper suppliers and the environmental forest practices of the forest operations from which their wood fiber is sourced;

Require paper suppliers to submit performance reports detailing their progress in environmental management and forest certification programs;

Give preference to suppliers who source their materials from forest lands certified by an independent, third-party to be sustainable; and

Review and, as appropriate, audit the manufacturing process of our paper suppliers and the environmental forest practices of the forest operations from which their wood fiber is sourced to ensure that the paper products containing recycled fiber and forest management processes are in accordance with the claims of the supplier.

“Independent verification is the next step in promoting ongoing environmental stewardship,” Elm said. “It signals a clear transition from ‘doing it’ to ‘proving it’ and is part of our vision to enable every office to be an ‘Office for the Environment’ – to provide every customer with the opportunity to purchase the office products they need, knowing that they are also doing their part to help the environment.”

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.