Multicomponent fibers comprising starch and biodegradable polymers

A nonwoven web comprising environmentally degradable multicomponent fibers having a diameter of less than 100 micrometers and having a configuration selected from the group consisting of sheath-core, islands-in-the-sea, ribbon, segmented pie, side-by-side, and combination thereof;

• wherein each component of the environmentally degradable multicomponent fiber comprises a material selected from group consisting of:
• a. destructurized starch having a molecular weight in the range from 3000 g/mol to 1,000,000 g/mol;
• b. biodegradable thermoplastic polymer having a molecular weight of less than 500,000 g/mol and selected from the group consisting of aliphatic polyesteramides;
• diacids/diols aliphatic polyesters;
• modified aromatic polyesters;
• aliphatic/aromatic copolyesters;
• polycaprolactones;
• poly(hydroxyalkanoates);
• polyesters and polyurethanes derived from aliphatic polyols;
• polyamides;
• polyethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymers;
• glycolide polymers;
• and combinations thereof;
• and
• c. combinations thereof;
• and
• at least one component of the multicomponent fiber has a different material composition than one other component.

An environmentally degradable bicomponent fiber having a diameter of less than 100 micrometers and having a sheath-core configuration wherein the sheath comprises a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer having a molecular weight of less than 500,000 g/mol and selected from the group consisting of aliphatic polyesteramides;

• diacids/diols aliphatic polyesters;
• modified aromatic polyesters;
• aliphatic/aromatic copolyesters;
• polycaprolactones;
• poly(hydroxyalkanoates);
• polyesters and polyurethanes derived from aliphatic polyols;
• polyamides;
• polyethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymers;
• glycolide polymers;
• and combinations thereof;
• and combinations thereof;
• and the core comprises destructurized starch having a molecular weight in the range from 3000 g/mol to 1,000,000 g/mol.