DELRAY BEACH -- Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today announced that it has met the new, tougher entry criteria for inclusion in the FTSE4Good U.S. and Global Indexes. Created in 2001 by global index provider FTSE Group, the index assesses companies' corporate social responsibility practices based on investment principles consisting of environmental sustainability, developing positive stakeholder relationships and universal human rights support.

Office Depot, the only global office products and services provider currently included in the index, joins a distinguished list of companies from Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America who have met these more stringent standards. Office Depot is the first company in its industry to meet FTSE Group's enhanced environmental requirements, which come into full effect in January 2006.

"Office Depot is honored to be recognized by the FTSE Group for our commitment to environmental responsibility, transparency and accountability," said Tyler Elm, Office Depot's Director of Environmental Affairs. "We remain focused on driving shareholder value by helping our customers achieve their business objectives in a way that demonstrates a shared responsibility toward environmental stewardship."

Jerry Moskowitz, Managing Director, FTSE Americas, added: "The FTSE4Good Index is not only designed to provide a tool for identifying and investing in companies that meet globally recognized corporate responsibility standards, but also to contribute to the development of responsible worldwide business practices. We are delighted that Office Depot's environmental reporting, management and policies continue to reflect a consistent commitment to corporate social responsibility."

According to Moskowitz, companies are assessed against the FTSE4Good selection criteria by the independent Ethical Investment Research Service, which researched both the U.S.- and European-based Office Depot operations during their assessment.

Office Depot, also listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, focuses its environmental initiatives on sustainable forest management, recycling and pollution reduction, as well as driving awareness of environmental issues and creating markets for environmentally preferable products.

According to Elm, Office Depot is the only office supply company producing an independently verified Environmental Stewardship Report. Audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Report provides an overview of the Company's environmental performance and initiatives and may be downloaded by visiting www.officedepot.com/environment.

Beyond its industry-leading 35% post-consumer waste content paper, Office Depot offers thousands of products containing recycled materials. In January 2005, the company issued its Green Book catalog of environmentally-friendly products to U.S. contract customers. The 84% increase in environmentally-preferable products highlighted in the 2005 edition, includes paper; pens; energy efficient computer displays, printers and light bulbs; toner cartridges; and biodegradable packing materials.

The Green Book itself is the only environmentally preferable office products catalog printed on elemental chlorine-free 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper and is distributed to more than 40,000 organizations to help easily "green" their office supply purchasing process. Businesses can obtain a free copy of the Green Book through Office Depot's environmental Web site at www.officedepot.com/environment or through its Business Services Division at +1-888-2-OFFICE.

FTSE4Good is a series of real-time indexes designed to reflect the performance of socially responsible equities. The series covers the UK, European, Japanese, U.S. and global markets, and consists of four tradable and five benchmark indexes. Independent socially responsible investment (SRI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practitioners regularly review the indexes to ensure they accurately reflect current CSR best practices.
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Editor's Note: For more information on Office Depot's environmental initiatives, visit www.officedepot.com/environment. Office Depot's Green Book catalog is available free-of-charge to Office Depot's Business Services Division contract customers (http://bsd.officedepot.com or 888-2-OFFICE). For more information about the FTSE4Good Index Series, visit www.ftse.com/ftse4good/.

About Office Depot
With annual sales approaching $14 billion, Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company. Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, Office Depot conducts business in 23 countries and employs 47,000 people worldwide. The Company operates under the Office Depot®, Viking Office Products®, Viking Direct®, Guilbert®, and Tech Depot® brand names.

Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel - from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. With $3.1 billion in online sales in FY'04, the Company is the world's number three Internet retailer. As of December 25, 2004, Office Depot has 969 retail stores in North America in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery centers and more than 60 local sales offices. Internationally, the Company conducts wholly-owned operations in 14 countries through 78 retail stores and 25 distribution centers, and operates 153 retail stores under joint venture and license arrangements in another seven countries.

The company'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.

About FTSE Group
FTSE Group is a world leader in the creation and management of indexes, including the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, a broad family of indexes capturing Large, Mid and Small Cap stocks. The series also contains the widely used FTSE All-World Index and a variety of strategy indexes including socially responsible investment (FTSE4Good), multinationals and style. In addition, FTSE calculates a broad range of asset class and domestic equity indexes such as FTSE Hedge and the prestigious FTSE 100 for the UK market. Custom indexes are also available to suit an endless variety of investment strategies.

In the US, FTSE has partnered with several notable financial industry leaders to create and manage products for the investment community--including Dow Jones Indexes to build the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB), a global classification standard; and Rockville, MD-based Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) to create corporate governance benchmark indexes. In other markets, FTSE also has collaborative arrangements with the Athens, Cyprus, Euronext, Johannesburg, London, Luxembourg, and Madrid exchanges, as well as with Nikkei of Japan (Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc), and Xinhua Financial Network of China. With offices in London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Paris, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, FTSE Group services clients in 77 countries worldwide. Real-time FTSE indices are calculated on systems managed by Reuters. Prices and FX rates used are supplied by Reuters.

About the FTSE4Good Index Series
FTSE4Good is an innovative series of real-time indices designed to reflect the performance of socially responsible equities. The series, created and managed by global index provider FTSE Group, covers five markets: UK, Europe, US, Japan and Global. Five benchmark and four tradable indices make up the FTSE4Good index series.

The FTSE4Good selection criteria cover three areas: environmental sustainability, human rights, and stakeholder relations. A committee of independent practitioners in socially responsible investment (SRI), and corporate social responsibility (CSR), review the indices to ensure that they remain an accurate reflection of current CSR best practice.

Inclusion in the FTSE4Good Index Series provides recognition a company meets international CSR good practice standards, and exposure to a global network of investors.

FTSE Group contributes income including license fees for FTSE4Good to UNICEF, the global children's charity.

Office Depot, Inc.

Office Depot, Inc.

Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company. Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., Office Depot has annual sales of nearly $15 billion, and employs approximately 50,000 associates around the world. Currently, the Company sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 42 countries. Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel -- from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. Office Depot serves a wide range of customers through a dedicated sales force, telephone account managers, direct mail offerings, and multiple web sites.

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