Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage ?

Correct Option: Segregation of municipal solid waste is the first step in ensuring the success of waste-to-energy plants.

The passage discusses the management of municipal waste, noting that segregation at source is rare, recycling is informal, and most budget goes to collection and transport. It highlights where waste-to-energy fits in the chain: 'Ideally it fits in the chain after segregation (between wet waste and the rest), collection, recycling, and before getting to the landfill.' It further elaborates on biodegradable waste and biomethanation. The core argument connecting all these elements is that proper segregation of waste is essential for effective resource recovery and waste-to-energy processes. Option (c) - 'Segregation of municipal solid waste is the first step in ensuring the success of waste-to-energy plants' - directly captures this crux. Option (a) is factually unsupported. Option (b) overstates biomethanation as the *only* ideal way. Option (d) contradicts the text which states biodegradable component is a little over 50 percent and offers a major solution. Thus, option (c) is correct.