Iron tailings are the main component of bulk industrial solid waste in China. Iron tailings have large inventory, which will cause environmental pollution risk and secondary resource waste if left untreated. How to efficiently utilize iron tailings as resources is an important guarantee for safe consumption of bulk industrial solid waste. Based on the basic properties and utilization way of iron tailings and the principle of electromagnetic wave absorption, this paper mainly introduced the research of iron tailings and its modified electromagnetic wave absorbing materials, iron tailings in cement-based wave absorbing concrete and geopolymer wave absorbing cementitious materials, focusing on the research progress of the wave absorbing properties and mechanism of iron tailings in cement-based concrete. The feasibility and performance of preparing iron tailings-based geopolymer wave absorbing concrete by geopolymerization reaction were discussed, which provides implications for the application of iron tailings-based geopolymers in multifunctional building materials, provides solution ideas to improve the comprehensive utilization rate of iron tailings solid waste resources, and solves the problems of tailings accumulation and environmental pollution. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the research progress of iron tailings in wave absorbing building materials, and further promotes the development of geopolymer wave absorbing building materials.