You're really bringing up one of our most important findings: There is no strategy for managing excess or expired inventory.
In this case, it was mostly supplies, such as masks, that were in excess. During the pandemic, contracts were signed and the government made commitments, and it continued to purchase masks. However, masks have a limited shelf life, and there is no strategy for donating them to hospitals or sharing them with other levels of government.
To me, this is really a fundamental aspect of inventory management; a strategy is needed to manage excess inventory and track the shelf life of supplies to avoid having to write off costs.