Office Depot Launches Fifth Annual Green Book

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today launched the Company’s fifth annual Green Book catalog of environmentally preferable office products. The Green Book, first launched in 2003, features nearly 2,200 of the Company’s greenest products – from recycled paper and remanufactured ink and toner cartridges to Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) and Greenguard certified furniture, helping businesses of all sizes create more efficient, less wasteful and healthier offices. Office Depot also offers an additional 3,000+ office products with green attributes, ranging from remanufactured to rechargeable, that are featured in Office Depot’s online green storefront at www.officedepot.com/yourgreeneroffice.

“Thousands of Office Depot customers – from the largest Fortune 500 companies to the smallest non-profit organization – have made the decision to go green in their purchasing habits,” said Steve Schmidt, President of Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division. “The Green Book is one of many solutions Office Depot offers these customers to help them succeed in business.”

The 2008-2009 Green Book features a complete assortment of products for small, medium or large businesses to create greener offices. This includes environmentally preferable furniture, technology, lighting, dishware, cleaning products, printer cartridges and office supplies. The Green Book also features educational content to help users learn more about greening their office in a cost effective manner.

New for the 2008-2009 Green Book include:

• Higher Recycled Content Cut-off. For this year’s Green Book, Office Depot raised its standards to permit only the greenest of products in the catalog. The assortment includes more than 1,400 items with at least 30 percent Post Consumer (PCR) or 50 percent Total Recycled (TR) Content.
• Office Depot Green™. The complete Office Depot Green™ brand assortment is showcased for the first time in a single catalog. Office Depot Green™ is the office products industry’s first dedicated private brand of green office products, and it enables companies to create a complete green supply cabinet with one consistent packaging design.
• New Bio-Based and Biodegradable Tableware. These new products made from sugarcane waste can help businesses shift away from Styrofoam dishware.
• Greener technology options. Previous Office Depot Green Books contained Energy Star qualified technology. The 2008 Green Book also designates technology items registered under the newly developed Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), which is the environmental rating system for computers developed in a multi-year stakeholder process supported by US Environmental Protection Agency (www.epeat.ne).
• Green Promotional Products. A large assortment of green promotional products are featured. These can be customized to help businesses showcase their environmental commitment and reinforce green behavior.
• Wider selection of greener furniture options. Previous Green Books featured a handful of furniture options. The 2008 Green Book has over 100 furniture items that are recycled or contain low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).
• Detailed definitions of newer common green terms. The 2008 Green Book helps explain the many new green acronyms and terms, while educating businesses on how buying green and being green can be simple.
• Green Purchasing Policy Framework. A simple framework is provided to help customers create a green purchasing policy for their businesses and better prioritize their efforts.

“We believe that the Office Depot 2008-2009 Green Book is our best ever in meeting the needs of our customers,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “We have incorporated feedback from a wide range of customers and stakeholders and made the 2008 Green Book a very user-friendly and highly educational tool. We also modernized the design of the book to give it a contemporary feel – in line with the evolution of green design from its granola roots to its increasingly relevant role in today’s business world.”

Office Depot contract customers can order a copy of The Green Book, by asking their account representative. Non-contract customers can complete an order form by visiting: www.officedepot.com/greenbook.

For more on Office Depot’s environmental initiatives and to view the Company’s 2008 Corporate Citizenship Report, visit www.officedepot.com/corporatecitizenship.

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 1,705 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.9 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.1 billion, and employs about 49,000 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 program are available at http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment.