China's metallurgical, coal, and chemical industries annually produce 4 billion tons of bulk industrial solid wastes, posing significant challenges to the green transformation of these industries. China has been actively promoting the eco-friendly disposal of such wastes, with key initiatives including mine filling, ecological restoration, and soil improvement. However, current research on ecological utilization remains poorly defined in scope, and its overall progress is relatively slow. Therefore, based on a new paradigm of "Earth's macro-cycle" proposed by our research team, this study further proposes a new concept of soil-like utilization. Under the premise of controllable environmental risks, we propose a new development paradigm that expands the properties of solid wastes into soil-like properties at three levels: ecological backfilling of full solid wastes, ecological remediation through solid waste amendment, and ecological return of soil-like solid wastes. This development paradigm includes establishing a multi-dimensional perception and path decision-making system for solid waste disposal, developing coordinated mitigation technologies for obstacle factors as well as structure reconstruction ‒ critical biogeochemical element cycling technologies, and building an ecological safety evaluation technology and standardized system for the soil-like utilization of solid wastes. This study aims to address the challenges posed by resource and environmental constraints, facilitate the transformation from abandoned mines to lush mountains with lucid waters, and ultimately return solid industrial wastes to the nature. This will support the implementation of the sustainable development strategy, achievement of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, and development of zero-waste cities.