The article presents the results of a study of the surface-active properties of tin ore wastes due to their impact on the environment and public health. The object of the study is the ore dressing waste from the closed mining enterprise “Solnechny GOK” of the Khabarovsk region of the Far Eastern Federal District. Sodium oxalate, Trilon B, methylene blue, sodium humate were used as sorbates. Methods of establishing the fact of interaction of waste with sorbates focused on the discoloration of colored complexing agents in the presence of waste. The use of titrimetric methods allowed us to establish the number of reaction centers of waste. To determine the nature of the active centers of the waste, foam quenching formed by anionic and non-ionic surfactants was applied. The effect of the molar mass and the structure of sorbates on the nature of their interaction with the surface of the waste is shown. Low molecular weight sorbates promote the formation of soluble complexes of heavy metal compounds and contamination of groundwater. High molecular polydentate complexing agents form surface films. The revealed physicochemical properties will make it possible to predict an increase in the probability of contamination of groundwater with low molecular weight organic complexing agents, as well as the probability of a better fixation of soil on waste in the presence of high molecular weight organic substances of the soil absorption complex.