2. Characterization and control goals

Characterization and control, like all other industrial operations, must pursue defined goals, and their costs must be commensurate with the expected benefits.

Technically, the tests carried out will derive from the specific features of the plastics examined in paragraph 1 and the practical results expected from them. Scientific research is outside the scope of this article.

The strategy must evolve between in-house testing and outsourcing, depending on technical, commercial, regulatory and economic imperatives. The panoply of physico-chemical, physical and chemical tests is almost inexhaustible, and costs can rise very quickly, especially as high precision and traces of more or less exotic chemical entities are sought. We must therefore be careful to remain reasonable and not indulge in research that may be interesting but is not essential....