More than 700,000 gallons of unused hand sanitizer that's been in Oriskany since 2021 is being sent to Rochester to be repurposed.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of expired state-produced hand sanitizer that were sitting outside the New York State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany are heading to Rochester to be repurposed.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched an initiative to make millions of bottles of hand sanitizer at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. More than 700,000 gallons ended up in Oriskany, where it has been since last year.

The New York State Office of General Service says the state has contracted with Eastman Kodak in Rochester to remove the hand sanitizer, which will either be disposed of or recycled if possible.

OGS says it will take about 44 weeks to complete the recycling process.