Best Buy is among a consortium of retailers and manufacturers ready to roll out a new voluntary, green labeling system for televisions.

The New York Times' Green Inc. blog reports that the new "eco-label" will give consumers information on how much lead, mercury and toxic flame retardants the televisions contain. The existing EnergyStar ratings only say whether a TV is energy efficient.

The new labeling system won't start showing up on store shelves for another 18 to 24 months, and critics say the timing is unfortunate because many consumers will be replacing their old analog televisions before the program is implemented.

A Minnesota Pollution Control Agency official who sat on the panel that developed the standard questioned how useful the labels will be to consumers. "EnergyStar is really simple," Garth Hickle told the Times, whereas this system "runs the gamut" with its attributes.