The mammalian cell surface is decorated with a plethora of integral membrane proteins including those required for the transport of micronutrients, such as copper, which are essential to cellular health. The concentration of micronutrients within the cell is tightly regulated to avoid their adverse deficiency and toxicity effects. The sorting and recycling of nutrients transporters within the endo-lysosomal network is recognised as an essential process in regulating nutrient balance. The evolutionarily conserved endosomal sorting complex, retromer, coordinates integral membrane protein recognition and retrieval. Cellular copper homeostasis is regulated primarily by two transporters: the major copper influx transporter copper transporter 1 (CTR1/SLC31A1), which controls the uptake of copper from the extracellular environment and is essential for early embryonic development, and the established retromer cargo, the copper-transporting ATPase, ATP7A. Here, we show that in response to fluctuating extracellular copper the retromer complex controls the delivery of CTR1 to the cell surface. Following copper exposure, CTR1 is endocytosed to prevent excessive copper uptake. We reveal that internalised CTR1 localises on retromer-positive endosomes and in response to decreased extracellular copper retromer controls the recycling of CTR1 back to the cell surface to maintain copper homeostasis. In addition to copper, CTR1 plays a central role in platinum uptake. Significantly, the efficacy of platinumbased cancer drugs has been correlated with CTR1 expression. Consistent with this, we demonstrate that retromer-deficient cells show reduced sensitivity to the platinum-based drug, cisplatin. . A molecular code for endosomal recycling of phosphorylated cargos by the SNX27-retromer complex. Nat Struct Mol Biol 23, 921-932. Clifford, R. J., Maryon, E. B. and Kaplan, J. H. (2016). Dynamic internalization and recycling of a metal ion transporter: Cu homeostasis and CTR1, the human Cu+ uptake system. A. (2009). The Arp2/3 activator WASH controls the fission of endosomes through a large multiprotein complex. Dev Cell 17, 712-23. Dolgova, N. V., Olson, D., Lutsenko, S. and Dmitrlev, O. Y. (2009). The soluble metal-binding domain of the copper transporter ATP7B binds and detoxifies cisplatin. Biochemical Journal 419, 51-56.Eisses, J. F. and Kaplan, J. H. (2005). The mechanism of copper uptake mediated by human CTR1 -A mutational analysis. . A unique PDZ domain and arrestin-like fold interaction reveals mechanistic details of endocytic recycling by SNX27-retromer.