In order to make further progress in the field of reducing mercury emissions to the atmosphere, it is necessary to develop efficient and economically viable technologies. Low-cost solid sorbents are a candidate technology for mercury capture. However, kinetic models are required to predict the adsorption mechanism and to optimize the design of the process. In this study, several low-cost materials (biomass chars) were evaluated for the removal of gas-phase elemental mercury and kinetic studies were performed to investigate the mechanism of mercury adsorption. These kinetic studies were also used to predict the behavior of a fixed-bed column. The models applied were pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations, Ficks intraparticle diffusion model, and the Yoon-Nelson model. The chars obtained from the gasification of plastic-paper waste demonstrated the best behavior for mercury capture because of their high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, large total pore volume (mainly micropore volume), and high chlorine content. The Yoon-Nelson model provided a better fitting for the samples with low mercury retention capacities, while in the case of the plastic-paper chars, all of the models provided relatively accurate predictions because their highly microporous structure retarded the internal diffusion process and their increased chlorine content enhanced chemisorption on their surface.