The natural environment in areas where zinc and lead ores are mined and processed has been significantly transformed. Such mining areas in Poland are also contaminated with these elements on a European-wide scale. Industrial zinc and lead ores occur in the Bytom-Tarnowskie Góry, Olkusz-Siewierz and Chrzanów-Trzebinia regions. The application of raw material enrichment by flotation and waste hydrotransport waste leads to the generation of postflotation heaps in the form of settling tanks surrounded by embankments. Postflotation waste contains heavy metals, mainly zinc, cadmium and lead, being environmental pollutants. Methods for the effective reclamation of such areas have not yet been developed and the management of such waste poses many difficulties. The authors discuss this problem using the Bukowno Mining and Melting Plant as an example.