Environ Monit Assess (2012) 184:1841–1846 DOI 10.1007/s10661-011-2082-y The effects of socioeconomic parameters on household solid-waste generation and composition in developing countries (a case study: Ahvaz, Iran) Seyed Masoud Monavari · Ghasem Ali Omrani · Abdolreza Karbassi · Farzaneh Fakheri Raof Received: 15 November 2010 / Accepted: 11 April 2011 / Published online: 29 June 2011 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract Environment problems associated with the generation of waste are part of societal changes where households play an important role. These societal changes influence the size, struc- ture and characteristic of given households. For the effective planning of solid-waste handling in- frastructure, it is essential to know the quantity of waste generation and its composition. This pa- per presents the findings of a study carried out in an urban municipal area in Iran to determine the household solid-waste generation rate and waste composition based on field surveys and to determine the related socioeconomic parame- ters. The dependent variables were waste gen- eration and composition, and independent vari- ables were family size, family employment, age, number of room and education. Over 400 sam- S. M. Monavari · G. A. Omrani · F. Fakheri Raof Department of Environment and Energy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran A. Karbassi Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran F. Fakheri Raof (B ) Unit 2, No. 149.1, 3rd faz, 11th West Kianpars Avenue, 6156653111, Ahvaz, Iran e-mail: f.fakheriraof@khouzestan.srbiau.ac.ir ple households were selected for the study using a stratified random sampling methodology and from five different socioeconomic groups. Waste collected from all groups of households were segregated and weighted. Waste generation rate was 5.4 kg/household/day. Household solid waste comprised of ten categories of wastes and with the largest component (76.9%). The generation and composition of household solid waste were correlated with family size, education level and households income. This paper adequately sug- gests new insights concerning the role of socioe- conomic parameters in affecting the generation of household waste. Keywords Household solid waste · Socioeconomic parameters · Household waste generation · Solid-waste Composition Introduction For integrated solid-waste planning, it is indispens- able to indicate solid-waste generation and com- position in communities (Gidarakos et al. 2006; Gomez et al. 2008). The quantity and composition of municipal solid waste are heterogeneous. They vary according to change in seasonal of the year and socioeconomic status of households. Many previous studies have examined house- hold solid-waste generation and composition